


Raising a new generation of Superheroes (no pressure)

by sunshine_and_rainbows



Category: DCU, Smallville
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - High School, Awkward First Times, F/M, Falling In Love, Friendship, Jealousy, M/M, Magic, Misunderstandings, Mutual Pining, Romance, Slow Build, Slow Burn, Time Travel, alternative universe - twenty years later, growing up with super powers, this is mostly about Superman's children
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-26
Updated: 2020-01-26
Packaged: 2020-10-28 13:51:20
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 28
Words: 208,036
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20779643
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunshine_and_rainbows/pseuds/sunshine_and_rainbows
Summary: It's not easy growing up as a child of Superman - except for all the normal problems of a High School kid, you're developing super powers all over the place, you've got a lot of secrets to hide and you've got A LOT to live up to. Unfortunately (or luckily, on some rare occasions) you've also got an annoying twin sister with opinions. When you meet the most beautiful girl you've ever seen in the school cafeteria, things get even more complicated...The first part of this story is mainly about Callum Kent in Smallville High School. In the second part, his sister Ellen will have a major role as well, and some new characters will show up, as they go off to Met U and start their journey towards adulthood and forming a next generation Justice League.The prologue can be read as a one shot Clois, but the main story is about the (Alternative Universe)Smallville-version of Superman and his friends 20 years later.  Or rather, mostly about their children and their adventures. You don't have to have seen Smallville in order to understand though, as most of it is about the next generation, but there will be some nostalgia for those who have...





	1. Prolouge

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: first of all, I don't own Superman, any DC-characters or Smallville. Duh... But thank you to the people who came up with all these amazing super heroes and their entourage. You've made my life so much more fun.
> 
> This story is the very first fanfiction I wrote. Or rather, started writing. Like, years and years ago, long before I was on AO3. It started as a Clois one-shot (the epilogue) but I got curious about their kids and started writing. It got completely out of hand, and somewhere when I had written 200 000+ words I gave up because I couldn't tie it together, and it was never published anywhere. Now, when I heard Tom Welling is making an appearance as Superman again in the DC tv-series crossover I thought, what the hell. Let's finish this old thing.
> 
> Be warned that it's my first ever fic, and although I may do some minor editing as I go, I won't re-write it, and parts of it may lack a bit in quality. The writing gets better later on, I think, as does the story. I thought about starting it at the second part, and skip the High School year, but it's kind of building the characters so it will stay even if it doesn't contain that much action. HOWEVER, I did write a short summary of the first part, so if you want to jump right into the University/College part, read the Prologue and skip on to chapter 11!
> 
> I rated it E because it has some smut later on (and some very mild smut in the Epilogue). It's not exactly porn and it's not overly explicit. Some parts are important for the story (let's face it, teenagers are obsessing quite a lot about sex... At least I did when I was one, lol) and some parts were just fun to write. I will warn for it in those chapters, and the more explicit parts can be skipped over if you don't like that sort of thing.

Lois was excited as she stepped out of the shower and wrapped a towel around her hair. She was really looking forward to tonight, o boy, was she… she put on some discrete make-up and chose a black laced bra with matching panties to wear under the worn jeans, tight top and the oversized plaid shirt she had stolen from his closet. It looked innocent enough on the surface, but she was going to do some major seducing tonight and she had already started to set her plan in motion. For once, they had the house all to themselves tonight, the fire was lit in the living room and she had picked out just the right movie for their movie night. She felt a familiar tingling in her belly and smiled as she thought about her little surprise. He wouldn’t know what hit him… She looked at the time on her phone, and read his last text message from earlier this afternoon again.

_ Guess what? I’ll be back a day early from the assignment in London, I will be able to make it to movie night if you are still on? _

Clark smiled as he sent her another text message that he was just waiting for the take-out to be ready and then he would be on his way. He too was really looking forward to tonight… they had started the movie night tradition years ago, but lately they hadn’t had time to actually see it through. In fact, it had been so long that he didn’t even know whose turn it was to choose the movie. Well, that would probably just mean Lois would take advantage of the situation and claim that it was her turn. He smiled as he thought about her...  _ her face, her soft skin… the way her hair smelled and the way her lips… God, that woman _ \- he couldn’t believe she still had this effect on him! He had to put those thoughts away for later, or he would not be able to make it there without setting something on fire…

He texted Oliver for the fifth time to make sure the League had everything covered in Metropolis for the night. He really didn’t want them to be interrupted this time. “Don’t worry, I know it’s your night off - we won’t call unless we are facing nuclear war, or worse…” Clark smiled at the answer. He knew better than to think this promise was only made out of concern for his well being though. No matter what bad guys Oliver had to face daily, no threat was ever going to measure up to a mad Lois Lane on a rampage...

Lois was just starting to get annoyed as she heard him entering. “Finally Smallville, I am starving here…” she welcomed him with a wink and a wicked smile as she took the food and the beer he had brought from his hands. 

“Oh, hi Lois, nice to see you too…” Clark answered, voice heavy with sarcasm. He felt a bit disappointed. He hadn’t really seen her at all for over a week, and this was all the welcome he would get? Had he done something to piss her off that he didn’t know about?

“What, just because you decided to actually honor me with your presence tonight, you expect me to throw myself in your arms and weep from happiness?”

“Well, I missed you too Lois…” he said trying his most charming smile.

“Of course you did Smallville, what’s not to miss?” she retorted, trying to sound cool. But then he saw the hint of a twinkle in her eyes as she turned around and put the food on the coffee table in front of the TV. Ok, so it would be one of  _ those _ nights… Well, he could play that game too if that was what she wanted.

“So did you pick a movie, or is it my turn?” he changed the subject.

“In your dreams Smallville…. Come on, let’s eat. As I said, I am starving here...” as she said it, she looked him straight into his eyes and bit her lower lip in that way that she knew would just drive him crazy.  _ Yeah, I’m starving too, but not for food… _ he thought. 

Lois pressed the buttons on the remote and started the movie. When he saw what she had chosen he almost choked on his beer.  _ Y Tu Mamá también!? _ What did she do? Google  _ The sexiest movies on Netflix right now _ or something? Wow, she was really going to torment him tonight. How was he going to make it through the whole movie without jumping her...or setting something on fire? Damn, that woman was pure evil sometimes… He swallowed hard and tried to compose himself.

“Actually, Lois, would you mind just giving me five minutes? I would really like a quick shower and a change of clothes first. You can start stealing my egg rolls while I’m gone…” he said with a quick wink and sprinted upstairs before she could protest. If she wanted to torment him, he would play too… He took a quick, much needed, cold shower and got dressed. He smirked to himself as he put on a really tight t-shirt and a pair of old, well worn jeans that he knew she would think were sexy. He quickly dried off his hair, but left it a bit wet and messy. He smiled at his reflection in the mirror. Yeah, he could play this game too…

Lois gulped as he came down the stairs. Of course he had seen right through her little plan, and now it would totally backfire on her. He looked drop-dead gorgeous with his messy, wet hair and he had chosen a t-shirt and a pair of old jeans that showed off his perfect body and made her sweat just a little bit even before he got close to her.  _ God, I just want to rip those clothes off…  _ she thought as he came closer and made eye contact, a smug grin on his face. She felt shivers all the way down her spine to her toes. She had definitely chosen the wrong movie this time… It didn’t even help that she had pleasured herself earlier in the shower, one look at him and she was all hot and bothered again.  _ Damn, that man… _ How was it that he could always do this to her? She thought briefly about changing her mind and choosing some old splatter movie instead, but she knew it was too late. He would know why, and she was not going to show any signs of defeat...

It didn’t take more than fifteen minutes into the movie before they were both seriously starting to lose focus. The question was who was going to cave first… She had curled up on the couch and he was now massaging her feet and ankles. He moved his hands up her calves slowly, and she felt her heart pounding and her mouth going dry from his sensual touch.  _ Damn, not fair… _

“You know, Smallville, you are totally violating the rules of movie night now…” 

“What, I am just giving you a foot massage… I thought you said you had had a stressful week? I’m just helping you relax. That’s all… If you are getting ideas it’s all in your head Lois…” he said innocently. 

_ Yeah, right…  _ she thought to herself.  _ If that’s how he wants to play…. _

“You are right Clark, that’s really thoughtful of you. I will just lay back and enjoy it then… Let me get a bit more comfortable… I think it’s just a bit to hot in here, that’s all.” she said, a husky tone in her voice, as she undid the buttons on her shirt and let it slide to the floor. She leaned back on the couch and put her feet in his lap, making sure to accidentally brush her toes against his groin. She was quite pleased to feel that he was already straining against the zipper of his jeans. 

Clark had completely lost whatever small speck of interest he had had in the movie now. He was only staring at the TV-screen in order to avoid looking at Lois as she laid on the couch, with her feet in his lap. She had a tight top under her shirt, and a pair of jeans that showed every curve. Her hair was flowing down her shoulders and he could see a bit of black lace sticking up under the top. He was sure she did that on purpose… he had some serious trouble keeping himself from x-raying to see what the rest of that tiny piece of lace was attached to. But he knew that he wouldn’t last twenty seconds if he did… He tried to breathe deep and concentrate on the movie, while trying to ignore how she constantly kept brushing against his bulging jeans with her toes. He swallowed hard and closed his eyes to hide the orange flash he knew she would otherwise notice…

“You know, I would say you are the one breaking rules now Lo…” he said, trying to push her feet away from his groin. 

“What? Oh, I’m sorry… I  _ did not  _ mean to do that… I was just enjoying my massage… that’s all. You know, if you are getting dirty thoughts about me, maybe that’s just in  _ your head? _ ” she teased. “Perhaps I should get us something else to drink, huh?” she asked and got up. She got back with two glasses of some drink with ice cubes, and curled herself up close to him on the couch. Things were heating up in the movie as well and Clark found it almost impossible to keep his concentration. It was only pure stubbornness and the knowledge that she would never let him hear the end of it that kept him from jumping her now.  _ Kissing her, feeling her soft skin under his hands, her breasts… kissing her neck and hearing her moan… _ His thoughts were drifting in the wrong direction now, and then she put one of the ice cubes in her mouth and sucked on it with her tongue swirling visibly around it while she looked at him with eyes dark with desire. And he was undone. Damn….

“You know what, screw movie night…” he panted and crushed his lips against hers, squeezing her flush against his body with one hand and twisting the other into her hair.

“Oh, Smallville, you just can’t resist me now, can you?”

“Oh, come on Lo… It has been over a week since I saw you and even longer since we made love, you know… and you know you want me too…”

“Uh hm, no way I’m letting you off that easily… I want to hear you say it…”

“You Lois Lane are the sexiest woman alive, and I couldn’t resist you if my life depended on it…” he said and kissed her neck and collarbone….

“Aaaand….”

“And I admit defeat and accept whatever punishment you decide for breaking the holy laws of movie night…” he continued, ripping off her top of and throwing it away.

“Oh God, babe, I want you sooo bad… right now…” she panted, ripping his t-shirt off.

“Aha, so you admit you want me too…” he groaned between his kisses and started unbuttoning her jeans.

“You know I do handsome… but you still lose, you know…” she whispered in his ear, unbuckling his belt.

He started kissing her breasts and snuck one hand between her legs, feeling her dampness. She let out a soft moan and started wiggling out of her jeans. Even though he was so turned on he had to muster the last of his willpower not to tear her panties to pieces and plunge into her like a caveman, he also wanted to make her squirm a bit first, just as punishment for being such a tease. But when he started to trail soft kisses down her belly she just tugged his hair, drawing him close to her face again.

“Enough with the damn foreplay and just take me now, will you…”

“Oh, impatient are we now, miss Lane…? I don’t know… maybe we should finish the movie first?” he tried to pull away and put on a face of indifference.

“Forget it stud, you lost and I decide to punish you by making you my obedient sex slave for the rest of the night…”

“Oh, God, I love you…” he moaned and tore of the rest of their clothes, super speed. 

*

Just as they were both reaching their climax, Clark picked up another sound through the passionate sounds of love making. It was coming from the front porch… Damn, he had been so lost in his blissful state that he had completely missed hearing the truck driving up the road and the people walking up to the house… But the voice yelling outside the door was impossible to miss, even without super hearing...

“Hello? Eehh… are you home already dad? Mum? I am just here with a friend from school to pick up some stuff we forgot for the party...” 

_ Crap... _


	2. Traumatized for life

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which we get to know Callum-Lane Kent, and a certain auburn beauty named Viola. Oh, and we get to go to a party where something is a bit weird about Ellen.

Callum Lane-Kent was normally a laid back and easy going guy, but he was ridiculously nervous as he left the party and got into the car. He raked his hand through his dark hair, swiping some of the stubborn locks that kept falling over his eyes away, and glanced at the girl next to him as he tried to think of something cool to say. Normally, he was not particularly insecure around girls. He was fairly popular in school, and he knew most girls thought he was hot. At least that was what Ellen always said, and he was asked out a lot too so he really didn’t doubt it. 

In fact, hot was kind of an understatement, if you were to ask most members of the female sex what they thought about Cal. He was tall and well built, with a body that made both girls and women swoon as he looked older than his eighteen years. He had a face that would probably have landed him a job as a male model, had he ever been interested in such things, and half long dark locks of hair swept back in an ‘I can’t help I woke up sexy ’look. The most remarkable thing about his appearance though, was probably his big, cerulean blue eyes that stood out in a clear contrast against his almost black hair. As if he hadn’t been blessed with looks good enough already, he had inherited his father’s famous Kent-smile. The kind of megawatt smile that would hit you like a freight train in the stomach and increase global warming at an alarming rate.

So how could a guy like that suddenly be so insecure around a seemingly normal high school girl? The thing was that, even though he knew that girls usually liked him, he never really cared much either way. It wasn’t like he considered himself above any of the admirers he had at Smallville High, he just had never really been seriously interested in anyone particular before, so it never mattered. Sure, he had been on a lot of dates, and he had even had a couple of girlfriends. But he always kept them at an arm’s length, thinking that his life was way too complicated for a serious relationship. Of course, this was partly since he had never met anyone who had been worth the trouble before...

He knew that his behaviour had given him a bit of a reputation as a player, and sometimes it bothered him a little. Even if he hadn’t ever let himself get too attached to anyone, he also never meant to hurt them either. Most of the rumours weren’t true anyway. The source of the latest one was Veronica, his ex girlfriend. She had really fallen in love with him and he hadn’t noticed it until it was too late. She wanted to take their relationship to the next level, and tried to seduce him into sleeping with her, but he had definitely not been ready for that. Sometimes he wondered if he would ever be able to let someone get so close to him. Not that he had really wanted it with Veronica, but still. Sometimes it sucked to have super powers. 

When he didn’t want to sleep with her she was really hurt and embarrassed, naturally. He had tried to let her down easily, but it was a hard thing to explain why a teenage boy would refuse to have sex with someone he had dated for over a month. Naturally, she concluded he didn’t love her (which was kind of true if he was honest) and broke up with him. But instead of telling people the truth, or just saying they broke up, plain and simple, she started spreading a story that he had dumped her as soon as he had had his way with her. This was incredibly unfair, Cal thought, but Ellen had convinced him to just let it go.

“If she wants to play the victim, it’s her problem… It’s just good for your reputation anyway. What do you think people would say if you told them you got dumped because you refused sex?”

“Eh, I don’t know? That I am a responsible person who won’t jump into the sack without being serious? And why would she want to play the victim anyway…?” He had shaken his head, thinking that he really, really could not understand girls, even though he had a twin sister who was basically a living encyclopedia of all things female, and who he could talk to about anything. He was grateful for Ellen, he would have been completely lost without her, he had to admit that.

“No, stupid. They would say you are gay. Or that you were too scared…” Ellen had answered, not being able to understand how her brother could be so dense sometimes. “And it would not make her look so good if it came out that she threw herself at you and you didn’t want her…”

“But why did she have to even mention that incident? There could have been any number of reasons for us to break up” Cal had asked, frustrated.

“Oh, she had already told all her friends that you had the house to yourselves and that she was going to go all the way with you that night…” Ellen had smirked. 

Thus, one of the reasons why he was really nervous right now, sitting in the car with Viola. He really did want to make a good first impression on her. If you could call it a first impression when it had been over two months since she transferred to Smallville high… But this was the first time Cal had really gotten the chance to talk to her alone. And there was just something about this girl. He didn’t know if it was the fact that she was one of the few girls he hadn’t known since forever, or that she was a bit exotic coming from Europe and all. Or if it was just that he thought she was really, really pretty? Or that she was smart, feisty, funny and independent. Or perhaps it was the fact that she had not seemed to be interested in him at all that made him so eager to get to know her. 

He had noticed her at once the very first day at school after the summer break. Someone had stumbled into her in the cafeteria and she had dropped the soda can she was holding. Cal had been right behind her and used just a tiny bit of superspeed to grab it before it hit the floor. She had turned around and smiled at him and said “thanks”. For a moment, his clear blue gaze had met a pair of large, intensely green eyes and he had been sure that his heart stopped for just a second. He had heard her pulse quickening too and noticed a faint blush on her cheeks. Then she had turned around and thrown her long, tangled curls over her shoulders and walked away to join a group of girls at a table. Cal had been staring at her for a while, where she made her way through the crowded cafeteria, trying to decide what colour her hair really was. It was dark, but it wasn’t really brown. It wasn’t really red either, though, but it had some reddish gleams in it. At least sometimes. It seemed to depend a bit on how the light fell on it. Auburn, that might be the name of that color? He wasn’t really sure, but what he knew for sure was that he loved it... Cal hadn’t been able to resist using his super hearing to eavesdrop as she sat down at her table, twisting the wild curls to a knot in the back of her head and pushing a pencil through it to keep it in place..

“Who is that bloke with the dark hair and absurdly blue eyes over there?” she had asked her friends innocently. They had giggled and exchanged meaning glances. 

“Oh, that’s Cal. Callum Lane-Kent…” one of the girls said.

“I know, he’s hot alright… but I wouldn’t bother with him, unless you want to get you heart broken…” someone else pitched in. Cal didn’t dare to look in their direction, so he hadn’t known who had spoken.

“I heard that….” someone else had started, but what she had heard Cal never managed to pick up, because at that moment Ellen had come sneaking up on him and whispered in his ear.

“You know it’s rude to eavesdrop, right?”

“Geez, you scared the crap out of me El…” 

“So who are you listening to?”

“What? I wasn’t…”

“Right…”

They had made their way to the table where their friend William was waiting and Cal had just managed to pick up the last bit of the conversation over at the other table before he had to turn his attention to his sister and friend.

“Oh, he has a girlfriend, right? The dark, pretty one with the ponytail?”

“Who? No, that’s Ellen, she’s his twin sister. I don’t think he’s seeing anyone at the moment, but if you’re interested, you’ll have to get in line behind like half of the cheerleaders...”

He had been really excited to hear that the new girl had asked about him, but when they had met in class later, she didn’t seem eager to talk to him at all. Either he had misread her reaction earlier, or the girls’ club had managed to convince her that it was not worth the effort. It had been the first time he really regretted allowing himself to get a reputation. Even if some girls seemed to be even more interested in him because of it, Cal suspected that the good ones would probably more likely be scared off… And Viola, the new girl, was definitely a good one. 

Even when she got to know Ellen and started hanging out a bit with her and her friends, she hadn’t tried to get to know him better, much to his disappointment. And Cal didn’t dare to ask Ellen about her either, fearing that she would not miss the opportunity to embarrass him if she found out about his crush. But he couldn’t help staring at her when they had classes together and sometimes he would listen in when she was talking to her friends. At least when it didn’t seem too private - he wasn’t a bad person after all…

He had been a bit scared that some other guy would ask her out soon if he didn’t pluck up the courage to make a move though. And he worried that it would be some idiot who didn’t even deserve her. He had heard some of the guys on the team talk about her a couple of weeks ago, and he had had to fight hard against the urge to just punch someone in the face.

“Who, the new girl in our Spanish class? What’s her name? Viola? Nah, I don’t know… not really my type.”

“Hm, I think she could be kind of hot… if she would stop dressing like a boy and get into a pair of heels and a dress…”

“Yeah, but she talks too much. I couldn’t stand listening to that for even one date…”

“Who said anything about talking? She’s a redhead, I bet she’s a real wild cat in the bedroom…”

“What do you think Cal? She’s not thrown herself at you yet? Or is she too plain for your taste?”

Cal had just wanted to tell them to go to hell. He adored Viola’s way of always speaking her mind and her relaxed, carefree way of talking to people. She was feisty and funny, and he was genuinely sick of girls who just tried to please him and who seemed to have some hidden agenda behind every sentence they spoke. He also thought Viola was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen, and he just liked the way it looked like she didn’t put any effort into her appearance at all and still managed to look stunning. Perhaps she wasn’t the definition of picture perfect or well dressed, nor did she show off her body in tight little outfits, but it only made her more interesting in his opinion. And it made him even more nervous, since he didn’t think she would fall as easily for his charms as the cheerleader types he usually dated. 

*

Tonight, he had finally gotten his chance to get to know Viola. Ellen and Will had convinced him to come along to one of those parties they usually tried to avoid. The kind of party that included drinking, which meant drunk girls trying to come on to him and jealous guys trying to pick fights. Typically the kind of situations that would get them into trouble. But somehow, Ellen had convinced their mom that it was just some innocent dance and that “everybody” would be there, and thus, so should they. Cal had tried to convince himself that he went along to keep Ellen out of trouble, but it was only after she had let slip that Viola would be there that he had really caved to the idea.

At the party, Ellen had disappeared and Cal had found himself hanging out with Will and some of the guys on the football team when the Cheerleaders ambushed them. Cal had tried to avoid the Cheerleaders ever since his break up with Veronica. Tonight, though, she wasn’t there and it seemed her loyal friends weren’t so loyal behind her back. Two of the girls had tried to get him and Will to go swimming with them in the pool.

“Sorry, I didn’t bring any swim trunks…” Cal tried to get away. But one of the girls was seriously drunk and really persistent. She swayed a bit when she tried to focus on him and batted her eyelashes in a way that was probably supposed to look flirty, but that Cal found completely ridiculous.

“Oh, we can always skinny dip you know…” she giggled, dragging them along.

Cal and Will had exchanged a panicked look, glancing around looking for a way out when Cal caught Ellen’s eye. She was playing some kind of card game with a bunch of other people, including Viola. Cal tried to beg for her help with his best puppy eyes, but Ellen never fell for that. She had just smirked and whispered “have fun in the pool or grow a pair bro...” 

“Please, help me out of this and I will do your chores for a week…” he had whispered back, sure she was listening.

She had finally taken mercy on him, and he heard her say “...you know what we should play next? We should play charades. If I can get my horny brother and my friend over there to ditch the cheerleading squad and team up with me, I will bet you double or nothing we can take you all down… How about it?”

“Sure, I never back away from a challenge Lane…” he had heard her friend, or probably potential flirt, answer smugly before she had called out after him.

“Hey Cal, Will, come over here will you?”

And so they had played charades, which he and Ellen had won easily once teamed up. Ellen would never let anybody beat her at anything, and nobody can beat twins in any sort of game where it helps if you know your teammate’s inner thoughts anyway… Who had been stupid enough to take her bet in the first place, Cal didn’t know. The only thing he had cared about was that Viola had been there. There had been a lot of laughing and joking around, and he had noticed that they really seemed to have the same sense of humor. A lot of times they also had made the same guess and exchanged some quick glances. Glances that sent shivers down his spine and made his heart beat a little faster. Cal hadn’t really dared to look at her for too long though, except for when it was her turn to act out. Then he had really taken advantage of the fact that he could stare shamelessly without anyone asking questions. She had been drinking a bit, but didn’t seem out of control at all. Just a bit relaxed and in a very good mood. She smiled a lot, Cal noticed, and she had a beautiful smile... And she was funny and clever too. If her team mate hadn’t been so dense, they could have given him and Ellen a real run for their money…

When the game had ended, Ellen had had the crazy idea that she wanted to sing Karaoke, and everybody had been all for it. However, there hadn’t been a Karaoke machine at the party, so Ellen had tried to convince Callum to go back to their house and get theirs. 

“Oh, come on Cal, it will be fun…” Ellen had tried.

“Please?” some of the others had begged him as well.

“I don’t know if I really feel like driving back to the farm now El, why don’t you get it yourself?”

“Oh, but I had some tequila with the girls Cal, you promised to drive tonight, remember?” she had winked at him. He had scoffed internally. Damn, it wasn’t like he could tell the others that it wouldn’t really matter if Ellen drunk the whole bottle…

Cal had seen Ellen whisper something to Viola, who had made the one argument he really couldn’t resist.

“Come on Cal, I’d really love to sing too. I will go with you and help you carry the speakers?” 

Cal had felt his heart beat so loudly he was sure Ellen had heard it, and sure enough he had seen her triumphant smile as she knew she had won the battle. She knew him too well for his own good.

*

And that was how he found himself here, alone with her in the truck... desperately trying to think of something to say.

“Eeh, so Viola? Is it a common name in England?” he started with the first question that popped into his mind, but he instantly felt stupid. 

“No, not really. At least not this century… but my mom was a hopeless Shakespeare addict…” she answered.

“Oh, so you are named after Viola in Twelfth Night? That’s one of my favourite plays actually… Perhaps it’s because of the twin theme...” he smiled at her. 

“I didn’t know you were a fan of old English litt?” she said sounding a bit surprised.

“I read a lot of different things…” he answered, not knowing if this was a good thing or not to say to a girl or if he would just sound like a nerd.

“Really? I always took you for more of a jock type of guy…” she smirked a bit.

“Well, Viola, it is actually possible to have more than one side to your personality you know…” he bit back, smiling at her. He starting to feel a bit more confident now. Banter, he could do… he had grown up with Ellen, after all. 

“Oh, I see. So you’ve got more layers to you than that handsome exterior, huh?” she said, but quickly changed the subject and looked a bit flushed.

“So Callum? It’s not a common name either in the US, right?” 

“I guess not… It’s kind of a family name of sorts on my dad’s side… they were… eh… not from around here either…” Oh, great, he thought to himself. The first thing I do is start to dive into a subject I really can’t explain. I wonder what she would say if I just said “yeah, it’s actually Kal as in my father’s Kryptonian name, but since we don’t want to draw too much attention to that my mom came up with Callum, that can be shortened to Cal. Clever, huh?”

“Oh, I thought your family have been living in Smallville forever? Ellen said you live on a farm that had been in the family for generations?” she questioned him.

“Yes, well, my dad was actually adopted, and my name comes from his biological family… I’m also named Jonathan after my adopted grandfather, but I always liked Cal better…”

“Oh, I see… Well, I like Cal too…” she said, making him blush a bit at the potential double meaning of the sentence... Was she actually flirting with him? He felt his stomach twist again.

Once the ice was broken, Cal found it easy talking to Viola. Cal asked about why she had moved to Smallville, and was a bit concerned to find out that her father was a geologist who had moved here to study the effects on the environment of the unusual meteor rocks. But one of the reasons had also been to get a change of environment. Her family were almost professional adventurers it seemed, and her mother had tragically died in a rock climbing accident four years earlier. Although Viola was still sad, it didn’t seem to have turned her against the lure of the extreme. Her father and brother had also continued with various kinds of expeditions, and her brother was still in Europe, working as a mountain guide somewhere. Viola told Cal about all kinds of adventures she had been on and all the ones she still wanted to pursue. He got the impression that she was really wild at heart, the kind of person who never said no to a bit of excitement and fun. He found himself thinking that it was probably a good thing if she wanted to be with him, since his life was kind of a crazy ride sometimes anyway. Then he blushed as he realized how far ahead his thoughts had jumped - they had only really known each other for a couple of hours, and now he was planning their life together? Damn, he was truly fucked...

They drove up to the yellow farm house and parked the car, when Cal’s super hearing picked up some sounds coming from the house, and he froze in his seat, wishing the ground would just open up and swallow him.

“Oh, Crap…” he banged his head against the steering wheel, feeling a stubborn blush creep up his neck.

“What’s wrong?” Viola asked curiously.

He thought about how to explain the situation. He could hardly tell her that his super hearing had picked up noises that sounded like his parents going at it in the living room. Not that he wanted to tell her that anyway. He didn’t even want to think about that. Damn, why can’t those two behave like normal adults…? He sighed inwardly.

“I think my dad’s home… he was supposed to be in London until tomorrow…”

“Is it a bad thing? Do you think he will be mad about the party?”

“What? No, it’s just… Oh, God… I don’t know how to say this. It’s just so embarrassing…”

“What? Tell me… Now you got me curious.” she smiled with eyebrows raised.

“Well, he has been away for a while… and they think that Ellen and I are at the party the whole evening…” he tried to explain, hoping she would catch on without him having to spell it out loud.

“So?” 

“Well, let’s just say, knowing my parents, that if we walk through that door without warning them first, you will probably be traumatized for life. I sure know I’ve been on a number of occasions…”

“What? Do you think they will be making out in the kitchen or something?” she snorted with laughter now.

“Making out… or worse…” he said, hiding his face in his hands.

“Holy shit, that’s so funny… Have you ever walked in on them, you know… doing it?” she asked without a hint of shame.

“Unfortunately, yes. And it is NOT funny… I promise you…” he said shaking his head in disbelief as Viola was roaring with laughter.

“Hey, don’t be so prude… I think you should be happy your parents have a healthy sexlife. At least you know they still love each other, right?”

“I guess… but when you are ten years old and walk in on your parents half naked in the hayloft, you are kind of traumatized for life. I swear... “ he said, still a bit embarrassed, but Viola just snickered.

“Oh, crap… That must have been quite a scene… what did they say?”

“My mom couldn’t stop laughing and my dad looked like he wanted to die of shame… Then they said something like what you just said. About loving each other. But I just rushed off and told Ellen they had ruined my life and that I would never, ever “do it” when I grew up…”

“Oh, but you changed your mind on that one, right?” she said with an evil grin, raising one eyebrow…

What? Callum stared at her in disbelief. Did she just ask what I think she asked?

“What do you mean?” he stuttered a bit insecure..

“Well, I just mean that you somehow survived that trauma and made yourself quite the reputation as a player…? Like what you did with Veronica?” she just asked bluntly.

“Yeah, well… maybe you shouldn’t believe everything you hear” he mumbled without meeting her eyes. “Not that I am holding on to that decision, I mean, I was ten… But so far, I’ve never… I mean… Me and Veronica, we didn’t actually...” He was really not comfortable with where this conversation was heading, and he just couldn’t believe she would confront him on the matter. They hardly knew each other for cryin’ out loud and here he was practically telling her he was a virgin… And he had the feeling that the more he tried to explain himself out of it, the worse it got. But as he chanced a glance at her he saw that she was trying to hide a laugh.

“Relax, I’m just joking with you… You really don’t have to explain yourself to me Callum.” she said with a smile. “But now I am kind of curious - what happened with Veronica that makes everyone think you did her and dumped her if that wasn’t the case?”

He thought about how to answer this for a moment. He had let people believe what she said but nobody had ever really confronted him about it, and he didn’t like to lie if it wasn’t necessary. Will and Ellen knew the truth, of course, but other than that, everybody just assumed the rumors were true. Usually, he didn’t care what people thought, but it was different with Viola. And here he actually had the chance to clear his name, at least as far as she was concerned. Maybe he should just tell her? If they got involved, he would have to lie to her enough as it was anyway, he thought bitterly.

“No, it’s ok, really. I actually don’t mind telling you. The thing is that we did go out for a while, but she was always pushing me to go further than I wanted to. Like telling everyone I was her boyfriend before we had really decided to go steady. And then there was this one time when she invited me over, and her parents were away. I thought we were going to hang out with the others, but it was just she and I. And she wanted us to… well… take it to the next level.”

“But you didn’t?”

“No… I wasn’t really ready for that. I mean, she was pretty and funny and everything. But I wasn’t really in love with her and I didn’t want to do that to her. Or to myself, for that matter…”

“So why does everyone think you did?”

“Well, she was really hurt that I didn’t want to do it with her, obviously. And she confronted me about my feelings for her. When I couldn’t say that I loved her, she broke up with me. And the next thing I knew she had spread that rumour…”

“Why didn’t you tell people the truth?”

“I don’t know… Ellen thought it was better to just let it go. And since I really hurt her I didn’t want to make things worse by calling her a liar too. If she feels better being angry with me and spreading rumours, I guess it’s her problem…”

“But she really had no right lying about you just because you were honest? I can’t believe you will let people think you are a jerk… or are you letting them think so to impress your friends? I guess the guys all congratulated you, huh?”

“No, it wasn’t like that… Sure, some idiots may think so. But I actually hoped it would scare off some… people… “ he suddenly blushed, thinking that this came out all wrong. And sure enough, Viola picked it up and started teasing him.

“Oh, having problems with the ladies throwing themselves at you now Callum? You know, normal teenage boys don’t really mind so much. Or are we a bit overconfident now? Perhaps nobody in Smallville lives up to you standards?”

“No, I… I didn’t mean it like that. It’s just. Some girls are a bit…” he didn’t know what word to use. Slutty seemed a bit harsh. So he decided to go with an example. “Like those Cheerleaders at the party who tried to drag me and Will to the pool? They think that just because they are pretty and hardly have any clothes on, guys will just do anything to please them… And now they think that, because of the rumors, they can do what they want with me… If Ellen hadn’t saved me, I would have ended up really having to insult someone to get out of there…”

“So you scare tactics kind of backfired, huh?” she said grinning at him.

“I guess…”

*

Viola studied the handsome guy in the driver's seat for a bit, not being able to decide what to make of him. She had been really attracted to Cal from the very first day. When their eyes met in the cafeteria, she had felt something she never had felt before. It was like electricity through her whole body when he had touched her just briefly to give back her soda can, and she had felt her knees weaken just like you could read about in old novels. She hadn’t thought that could actually happen in real life before that. And those blue eyes… he was just so bloody gorgeous. Her first, brief thought had been that there had to be something special happening between them. Like love at first sight? Was that even possible outside of the covers of the romance novels? From the stories she heard, she had quickly concluded that he had that effect on all the girls, and she had felt really stupid to think that they had indeed had a moment. She didn’t want to be the kind of girl who pined over some player type who couldn’t care less about her. Even if he looked like Adonis personified and all her internal organs seemed to switch places inside her when she met his eyes, even for a brief second.

She had decided to do her best to avoid him since she really didn’t want to make a fool out of herself over him. Especially after she heard about him dumping his ex girlfriend after he slept with her. Although she had thought from the start that there was something fishy about the story. As far as she understood, it was the girl who had started the rumour, and she was the kind of bottle blond, fake eyelash batting Cheerleader type Viola couldn’t stand. Not that that would make her a liar per se, but why would anyone confess to something like that? If she had been stupid enough to sleep with some idiot who had dumped her because of it, she wouldn’t have told a soul… She would probably have killed him instead. Or told everyone he had a really small prick. She smirked a bit at the thought.

She studied Cal, who looked a bit insecure now, like if he was waiting for her doom. The last couple of hours had really made her realize that there was a lot more to him than first met the eye. She had swallowed the image of him as a shallow player type and a serial heartbreaker. But now she didn’t think that picture was entirely true. It was like he used it to push people away. Why did he do that? He was popular and gorgeous, and he didn’t seem insecure or shy either, so he had no obvious reason to hide. But when she thought about it, Ellen was a bit like that as well.

She really liked Ellen. Ellen was cool, funny and brave. She trained martial arts and didn’t back off from any challenge. Viola was a bit wild herself. Growing up with parents who liked rock climbing, mountain hiking, downhill skiing and other extreme sports would do that to you. Not everyone could keep up with her, but Ellen was one of the few who could. They had really hit it off, and Viola had hoped she had found a new best friend. But as much fun as they had, Ellen wouldn’t really let her in. She had never invited her over or shared anything too personal with her. And she rarely talked about her parents or any other relatives or friends outside of school. Although she had a lot of friends and was a popular kid at school, it seemed the only two people she was actually close to were her brother and their friend, Will. 

At first, Viola had thought that Ellen and Will were a thing, but Ellen had dismissed that as an impossibility, without hesitating to let on that Will would have “loooved for her to be interested”. She had thought it was kind of mean to her friend (unless she was actually in love with him after all), but when she read between the lines and talked to him, she concluded he was probably gay and Ellen just tried to cover for him. Viola didn’t understand why though, but then again, she wasn’t raised in Smallville… She had mostly lived in big cities in Europe, where people were a bit more open minded than in Kansas. 

“You certainly are a weird one, Callum Lane-Kent…” she said, after a while, giving him a small wink… “But I think I can figure you out….”

“You think so…? Good luck with that…” he said with a half smile, obviously relieved that she didn’t think he was crazy.

“But, don’t tell anyone I told you this, ok?” he added, a bit insecure…

“Ok, I promise not to tell anyone you aren’t a total prick...” she said rolling her eyes at him and gave him a small punch in the shoulder. “Come on, let’s go embarrass your parents…” she said and jumped out of the truck. 

*

“Hello? Eeh… are you home already dad? Mum? I am just here with a friend from school to pick up some stuff we forgot for the party...” 

Cal called out to them as they closed in on the house, trying desperately not to listen to what went on inside. He really wanted to stall Viola for a moment, giving his parents a chance to get decent, so he held her back in the door, feeling a rush of electricity where he touched her skin that made him lose focus for a bit.

“Sorry, I just wanted to warn you that my mom can be a bit… intense… I normally don’t bring girls home, so she will probably get the wrong idea and ambush you with questions…” he said, without thinking.

“Oh, and what idea would that be…?” she asked innocently, stifling a laugh. It was really fun to make him squirm… She couldn’t believe someone who seemed as confident as Callum would be so easily embarrassed by any kind of reference to sex or relationships. Maybe it’s because he actually likes me… she thought, feeling the butterflies go crazy in her belly, before she pushed the idea away. 

Cal rolled his eyes, leading Viola through the door. He estimated that thirty seconds must have given his dad plenty of time to at least superspeed them out of sight… And sure enough, the ground floor was empty as they came in. Cal tried to steer clear of the living room but as they passed it he could see evidence in the form of clothes thrown at the floor behind the couch, and a real mess of knocked over bottles and half eaten food on the table. He tried to hide the sight from Viola, but from the way she was snickering, it was evident that she had seen it too. 

At that moment, Lois came down the stairs, now fully dressed and with her hair in a tight knot. She smiled and seemed completely relaxed as she introduced herself to Cal’s new friend.

“Hi Mrs Kent… or is it Lane? Eh, well I’m Viola, I go to school with Cal and Ellen…” she shook her hand. Either she doesn’t know we know what we just interrupted, or she has the best poker face ever… Viola thought.

“My byline says Lane actually, but you can call me Lois.” she smiled back at the girl and looked at her son, who seemed a bit nervous, fidgeting with the straps on his hoodie. “Would you like something to drink? My husband’s in the shower - he just got back from a business trip, but he will be down any minute” she said. “I’m sure he would like to say hi, it’s not everyday we get to meet one of Cal’s….”

“Actually, we’re not staying” Cal interrupted her. “We just came by to pick up the Karaoke machine… Ellen got this idea that she wanted to sing Karaoke, and you know how she gets when she sets her mind on something…” he rolled his eyes again.

“Oh, I know. I always wondered where she gets that from. Must be from Clark…” Lois said with a wink and a smile and Viola laughed, thinking that it was probably not true. Cal’s mum really seemed cool… for a mum anyway. She actually reminded her a bit of her own mum, and she felt a sting in her heart before she shook the feeling off for now. 

“So why didn’t Ellen come with you? She’s not been drinking, right? Cal?” Lois asked a bit more serious now.

“No, not much…” Cal answered. “Not more than usual anyway…” Viola heard him mumble under his breath. She saw Lois’s eyes narrow with a suspicious look.

“But not really drinking though? She’s not…” Lois hesitated. “You know… right?” 

Viola thought that was a strange conversation, and she saw Cal giving his mom a stern look, like she had said too much, as he mumbled “No, mom. Geez. Just stop it, ok. Don’t worry…”

Clark came down the stairs, now dressed in jeans and a button down shirt, his hair combed back and his glasses on. The shower hadn’t totally managed to wipe the flush, embarrassed look off his face though, as he realized all too well that Cal had probably heard everything that went on in the living room the minutes before they entered the house. But he did his best to compose himself as he flashed a smile at the kids and introduced himself to the new girl.

“Hi, I’m Clark Kent. Cal’s dad… but you probably guessed that already?” he said.

“Yeah, I think I could have guessed that if I had met you on the street…. I’m Viola… Nice to meet you” she said and smiled back. Cal was really the spitting image of his father, except for the glasses and the dorky hairstyle. He had the same dark hair and blue eyes, and he too was tall and well built. He looked really young for a dad, Viola noticed. Not that Lois looked old, but Viola suspected that Clark was a bit younger. He had no hints of gray in his almost black hair and not a wrinkle in his face. He had the same charming smile as Cal had too and Viola liked him at once, although he seemed a bit more reserved than his wife. 

Viola was really curious and wanted to talk to Cal’s parents some more, but he just wanted to get the machine and be out of there. She felt her heart race as he actually took her hand and dragged her along.

“Come on, all the things are upstairs in Ellen’s room…” he said. But when he saw her looking at their joined hands halfway up the stairs, he let her go and blushed a really cute shade of pink. 

Cal showed her around the top floor. His room was a typical teenage boy’s room, with football posters on the walls and a flat screen TV and a Nintendo console on the drawer. He had homework and books spread out on his desk, and an expensive looking laptop and some other high tech stuff lying around. Viola wondered how he could afford all those things. It didn’t seem like they were flashing money around normally. Neither Cal nor Ellen wore expensive clothes and they drove the normal kind of old pickup truck that every other kid in Kansas seemed to drive. 

“Wow, is that the new MacBook?” she asked him, fishing for an answer. “I didn’t know you were such a tech freak?”

“Oh, no… I’m not, really. I got that from my aunt and uncle last Christmas. My aunt Chloe is a real computer nerd and she always tries to make hackers out of Ellen and me…”

“Bloody hell, I wish my aunt would give me such expensive gifts…” 

“Oh, well… they never really think about money… they have enough of it. But my dad always hates it when they spoil us.”

“Wow, what do they do for a living?”

“Oh, he’s a businessman, and she works with computers… Let’s go look for the Karaoke stuff in Ellen’s room...”

She noticed the unsubtle effort to change the subject. Nope, he really didn’t like to talk about his family either… 

Ellen’s room looked like a bomb had gone off in a department store; clothes, books and junk spread out all over the floor and bed. Her desk was also littered with homework and pieces of paper and pencils, along with some half empty cups of coffee and doughnut crumbles.

“God, where does she sleep…?” Viola asked, looking at the mess on the bed.

“Oh, you know, hanging upside down from the roof…” Cal smiled at her as he rumbled around in the closet, looking for the right box. “Aha, here it is…” 

Viola approached him to help out with the box, and when he suddenly turned around she found herself looking right into his eyes, his face only a couple of inches away from hers. Her mouth went dry and she could feel her heart race as her eyes found his pink lips. God, I wonder what it would feel like to kiss him…And since the fates hated her, his tongue swiped briefly over his lower lip, making it wet and inviting, like it was begging to be kissed. She was utterly and truly buggered - completely dazzled by his mere presence like a fawning princess in an old fairy tale.

Cal had not noticed that Viola came up to him, and when he turned around to give her the box, she was suddenly standing so close he could feel the sweet scent of her breath on his mouth. Their hands met as he handed her the box, and for a moment he froze, unable to move. A warmth spread all over his body, and he could feel his cheeks flush. Damn, keep it together he tried to instruct himself as his gaze dropped to her soft lips. He noticed that they were a bit glossy and smelled like cherry and vanilla before he lost control of his actions and tilted his head slightly down toward her face.

“Did you find them?” Lois stuck her head through the door in exactly the wrong moment, and Cal and Viola jumped apart, both blushing. She bit back a giggle and said “sorry…” before she retracted back to the hallway and whispered “...guess that makes us even Cal, right” with an evil grin when she was sure Viola couldn’t hear her.

“Um, what…? I mean… yes. We found it. We were just heading back to the party...” Cal said sheepishly to no one in particular and looked down, not daring to meet Viola’s eyes. 

They quickly collected the rest of the things and made their way downstairs again, both still blushing slightly. As they headed out, Cal’s parents were sitting on the couch, watching some action movie, Clark seemed a bit rigid, but Lois lay relaxed with her head against the armrest and her feet on her husband’s lap. 

“By Mr and Mrs Lane… Kent… We’ll let you get back to your...movie now” Viola said, smiling pointedly at Cal. She thought it was time to break the tension between them with a little inside joke. 

“Ok kids, have fun. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do….” Lois said with a wink. 

“Oh, that’s great Lo, now you’ve really limited them to… well… not killing anyone?” Clark smirked.

“Can it Smallville” she bit back at him with a fond smile, and then she turned to Callum.

“Try to keep your sister out of trouble, will you?”

“Yeah, I will…” he answered, but then he added “but if you want me to be her keeper you should add that to my list of chores…and raise my allowance…” 

*

“Took you long enough…” Ellen said with raised eyebrows as they came back to the party. “What were you doing?” she shot them a questioning glance.

“Nothing… we just waited outside and talked for awhile…” Cal answered, but she still eyed him suspiciously.

“Dad’s home…” he added with a dark look, as if that explained everything. And evidently it did...

“Oh God... “ Ellen snorted with laughter and spit out half of her drink across the table. “Did you catch them?”

“No, damn. You are such a pervert sometimes. I don’t want to do that… I warned them and then we gave them some time to… tidy up…”

“It’s so unfair, it’s always Cal who catches them. And he doesn’t even know how to make the most of it. If it was me, I would have taken a photo and used it as leverage the next time we negotiate for allowance…” Ellen said to Viola, and they both laughed.

“Well, that’s a good idea, if I was ever to catch you in a co-ed situation, I would know what to do then…” Cal muttered to Ellen, just wanting this conversation to end. 

*  
The Karaoke machine was a hit, and soon the livingroom of the house they were in was turned into a dance floor. Viola and Ellen danced and sung along with some others, but Cal kept a bit of a distance, satisfied with watching Viola and meeting her eyes from time to time. God, she is so beautiful he thought and blushed as her eyes met his. He felt really insecure about what to do after the almost-kiss earlier. She had pretended like it didn’t happen and if it wasn’t for the fact that he had heard her heart race he would have thought that he was imagining things. He decided that it might be for the best that they just stayed friends for now, since he was really scared about his feelings growing completely out of control. He hardly knew the girl and he really couldn’t afford letting some stranger get close to him. What if she was a spy? Or if she discovered his secret accidentally and sold them out? You are really starting to get paranoid you know.... he told himself, feeling a sting of jealousy as he saw her dancing with a blond guy whose name he didn’t remember. 

Viola was having the best night so far in Smallville. She loved Karaoke and dancing and she was so excited that she was finally getting to know Callum. She couldn’t believe the hottest bloke in school had almost kissed her. He had seemed a bit insecure afterwards though, and hardly spoke a word on the way back. She had decided to help him lighten the mood and kept rambling on about random things in the car. It was a bit disappointing that he didn’t join them on the dance floor, but she watched with satisfaction as he turned down a number of other girls who tried to get him to dance. She also noticed that he kept looking at her a lot, and she flirted with him shamelessly from a safe distance, even while dancing with other guys. And it did seem like his eyes darkened a bit whenever she got too close to someone else. God, why won’t he just come up here!? She thought just as Ellen made her way over. Obviously, she too had noticed the looks they were giving each other.

“Hey, why don’t you ask Cal to come and join us?” she asked trying to sound innocent.

“It doesn’t seem like he wants to dance…”

“I think it depends on who’s asking…” Ellen winked at her.

“Well, I have been trying to flirt with him for like half an hour, but he doesn’t seem interested…” Viola said, feeling bold. I can’t believe I just admitted that to his sister…

“Oh, I would say that he is interested alright… he can’t take his eyes off of you Vi. But he can be a bit dense sometimes… and he is not as confident about his charms as everyone thinks he is… But don’t tell him I told you that…” she blurted out, voice a bit slurry. 

Viola stared at Ellen in disbelief. She was usually very protective of her brother, and she had never heard her saying something like that before. Perhaps she had had a couple too many drinks after all… Viola decided to go over to Cal and tell him, in case he hadn’t noticed. But when she came close to him she forgot all about Ellen, as he met her gaze and stretched out his hand towards her. 

“Do you want to dance with me?” Finally she thought and took his hand, smiling.

They danced together a while, standing a bit too close for the upbeat tunes that were playing. None of them seemed to notice anything going on around them. Viola didn’t see the Cheerleaders glaring daggers at her from across the dancefloor. And Cal didn’t notice his sister becoming more and more unsteady on her feet as she was dancing nearby. 

Ellen really felt her head spinning, she was having so much fun. She knew Cal would give her hell if he found out that she was drunk, but he seemed too absorbed by Viola’s presence to notice anything at all. Ellen was getting seriously impatient with her brother. Why didn’t he just kiss Viola already? They obviously both wanted to... but every time they got close, he would step back as if they were scared of something. Stupid moron of a brother, she thought and grabbed the microphone. She chose “Kiss me” by Sixpence None The Richer, as her song. 

“This song is for my stupid brother Callum and my dear friend Viola… I hope you get the message, guys…” she announced to the crowd and started singing. 

Both Cal and Viola froze on the dancefloor, eyes widening. 

“I think you might have failed your mission to keep her out of trouble, Cal. She has obviously had a bit too much to drink…” Viola snickered. But Cal didn’t seem to think it was funny. He grabbed Ellen by the waist and carried her off the temporary stage she had made out of the coffee table. Viola followed him as he carried her away and set her down on the lawn outside. He was furious.

“Have you been drinking?” he watched her incredulously as if he didn’t believe his eyes. Viola thought it was a bit odd. Ok, so she had had a bit much, but he had seen her drinking both beer and tequila earlier and had just rolled his eyes. Now he acted like he had just realized it. 

“Just a tiny winy bit….?” Ellen giggled, hiding her left arm behind her back as Cal reached for it. 

“Are you crazy!? Mom’s going to kill you if she catches you again...” he started.

“Yeah, like she can talk? She’s the one who got thrown out of College for under age drinking…” Ellen snorted.

“That’s completely different and you know it! I can’t believe you Ellen…” he paced around for a bit and continued.

“Dad’s going to freak out if he finds out about this… He’s going to take it away from you and you can forget about training or... anything... Or he’s going to ground us both for the rest of our lives.“

Viola didn’t understand half of the conversation, but she had the distinct feeling that they had forgotten about her presence and that she was hearing something she wasn’t supposed to hear. She decided to make her presence known before it got awkward. And she also felt a bit sorry for Ellen. Ok, so she had been drinking a bit, but it wasn’t as if she had lost control or done something stupid. 

“Relax Cal, it’s not that bad… Everybody gets a bit tipsy sometimes, right? We’ll get her a cup of coffee and make sure she sobers up before you take her home.”

“No, you don’t understand… The thing is, we shouldn’t really… it’s complicated. God, he’s going to kill me for this…” he said, more to himself than to Viola. But then he seemed to notice her presence, and straightened up a bit while he raked a hand through his messy hair and gathered himself. 

“I’m sorry, but I have to speak to my sister alone for a minute… Maybe you could get her a glass of water?” he asked Viola and smiled apologetically.

Viola went inside, but saw them arguing heatedly through the window in the kitchen. After a while, Cal grabbed Ellen’s wrist and forced her arm out from behind her back. When she withdrew it, she threw herself in his arms and cried. As Viola got back outside with the water, she heard her sobbing…

“I’m so sorry Cal… I know you got into trouble too last time. Please let’s not tell mom and dad…”

“Ok, but you have to promise me not to do it again? It could be really dangerous you know… It’s not like we can ask Emil what effect it can have…”

They instantly got quiet as they heard her approach. 

“Thanks, I think she will feel better after drinking a bit of water…” he smiled at Viola now, obviously calmer than before. 

Viola couldn’t help thinking that there was definitely more to the story. Had Ellen been doing some kind of other drug? Or was she sick or something? Perhaps she had some kind of condition that made alcohol dangerous for her? But why hadn’t he stopped her earlier if that was the case? Perhaps she had been faking it, and switching the alcoholic beverages for something else in the beginning? God, she was too curious for her own good even under normal circumstances… And now one of her best friends and her new potential boyfriend - Shit did I actually go there? - were obviously keeping something important from her. 

Callum and Ellen left the party almost at once, together with Will, and Viola wasn’t sure if she was disappointed or relieved. Cal made her feel things she never had felt before, and she was almost sure he was interested in her too. But something about him also didn’t add up, and she wasn’t sure she could trust him. She was really scared of falling in love with him, just to realize he wasn’t who she thought he was. And it would be so easy to fall in love with him if she would let herself… She decided that she wanted to get to know him better before making a move, and it seemed he had similar ideas. 

After the day of the party, he started treating her like a friend. That is, Viola was now frequently invited to hang out with Will and the twins. At first, they spent most of the breaks and study time together at school, and after a while she started to get invited over when they were doing something at Will’s place or at the Beanery. Finally, and she somehow understood this was a big step for them, she was also invited over to hang out at the Lane-Kent residence from time to time. But the more time she spent with the twins, the more suspicious she was becoming. They were definitely hiding something… And Viola wanted to know what it was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1) Can anyone find the line I stole directly from the old Lois & Clark - series? My all time favorite... he he. Every fanfic needs at least a couple of lines from that epic show.
> 
> 2) I can't believe I actually made up a gay character named Will in this fic. I mean, this was ages before Solangelo was even a thing and I hadn't read a single page of Percy Jackson... Later in this fic, I think I paired my Will up with a guy named Eric. Now, I'm thinking I'll have to change that and write him an emo-boyfriend named Nico, just because... It won't be a crossover though, just a small tribute.
> 
> 3) If you haven't seen Smallville, the "meteor rocks" are important in this. They are basically different versions of Kryptonite which were spread all over Smallville. Green does the usual, but also gives normal people superpowers and turns them crazy, blue takes away the Kryptonians' powers, red makes their inhibitions go away and silver makes them paranoid and crazy.


	3. Secret-keeping and snogging

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which friendships develop into romance, secrets generally create a lot of frustration, Cal develops a new superpower, Viola gets detention and participates in a girl's night where she makes a promise she probably will fail to keep.

The weeks went by, and summer turned into autumn and winter, as usually happens. Viola started to consider Will, Ellen and Cal her best friends. She started writing for the school paper with Ellen and Will, who was their go to photographer. Cal spent a lot of time helping them out, but he didn’t really want to commit to being a reporter. When Viola discussed this with Will one day at the Beanery, he said his guess was that Cal didn’t want to follow in his father’s footsteps. Viola knew his dad had been playing football in High School too, and now both he and his wife were famous reporters for the Daily Planet.

“Yeah, I guess it must put a lot of pressure on their kids, huh?” she said, over her coffee.

“You have no idea…” Will said pointedly, and once again Viola had one of those moments where she felt like she was the only one in the group who didn’t know the whole story. But she didn’t want to pressure them for it. Somehow, she had started to accept the fact that they kept secrets. 

Viola and Callum were stuck in a really weird place though. They took every chance to spend time together and they generally bantered and flirted mercilessly with each other. Most people at school knew they were a thing. Except, they weren’t, really. They didn’t kiss and they hadn’t decided to actually go out. Sometimes they would hold hands when no one saw, or walk with their arms wrapped around each other. But if anyone asked, they both claimed to be just friends. Viola normally didn’t care too much about what other people thought, but it bothered her a bit that some people were sure that  _ she _ was in love with Cal, but thought  _ he _ only wanted her friendship because she wasn’t as pretty as the girls he usually dated. Or at least not as well groomed and as eager to show off her assets. Not that she believed them - she had gotten to know Cal better than to think he was only looking for a pretty face who could bat her fake eyelashes at him, but sometimes she just felt like showing them she had it too.

But mostly, while Viola was happy to hang out with Cal as a friend, she knew deep down she wanted more and she thought that he did too. She could feel the tension building up between them when they were alone, and she always felt her knees weaken when she lost herself in his gaze. Now she had decided to consult Will on the matter as they met up at the Beanery to work on an assignment for their history class. There was a girls’ choice dance coming up before Christmas break, and she had thought about asking Cal to go with her as a date.

“Do you think Cal would freak out if I asked him to the dance?” she asked, trying to sound casual, sipping her cappuccino. 

“Oh, I thought you two were just friends…?” Will couldn’t help teasing her, while he took a napkin and wiped away a bit of a milk mustache above her lip.

“I know, it’s just…” she started, but then she saw that he was stifling his laughter.

“I’m just kidding… I think you two are long overdue for a date actually…”

“Yeah, I guess… but I’m just worried he will freak out. Sometimes I think he’s scared of me…”

“You’re probably right about that...” Will smirked “but you know, it’s only because he really cares about you…. And perhaps because you  _ are  _ a bit scary sometimes. Especially when you are mad…” he added the last part with a grin, covering his head with his hands as if he expected to be punched in the face.

“Seriously though. I get that you guys are a bit nervous. I mean, you are friends, right? And Cal’s a bit… special… if you know what I mean? He doesn’t easily let people in. But if you don’t act on it soon, you two might ruin it anyway. You know, not acting is also a choice…”

“When did you get so smart, huh?” Viola asked, just as Cal and Ellen entered the Beanery, and she felt the familiar flutter in her stomach when she met his eyes. 

*

Callum and Ellen had been sparring with Lois in the barn that afternoon while Viola and Will were working on their history assignment. Cal was stronger than Ellen, but she was a more skilled combatant, so they were an even match. Lois could still take them both with her first degree black belt. When they wore their blue kryptonite bracelets, that was. Otherwise, they would kick her across Kansas if they tried... 

They had both been thrilled when Dr Emil came up with the design for the bracelets. They had a pearl that was actually a lead lined steel cylinder that could be twisted open to expose a smaller pearl of blue Kryptonite. Just small enough to take away the powers of the one wearing it without affecting potential fellow Kryptonians in the vicinity. They had gotten them as a present for their sixteenth birthday, meaning that they could now play sports like anyone else. Dr Emil had even come up with an excuse to use if they were ever questioned about them. They had told their teachers and coaches that they were part of a scientific study of twins and that the bracelets were tracking their heart rates at all times and therefore couldn’t be taken off.

They were only to use the blue k for sports and emergencies - like if someone tried to expose them. After the party earlier this semester, Cal kept reminding Ellen that the urge to get drunk didn’t count as an emergency. Dr Emil didn’t know exactly how they were affected by prolonged exposure to the blue k, and when exposed, they could get hurt and sick like anyone else. If they were to wear them constantly, they would probably age faster too. They were both happy to be able to compete in sports without cheating or risking exposure though, and Lois liked to train them in non-superpowered hand to hand combat too. It would come in handy if they were attacked by some other creatures with powers, like aliens or meteor freaks; or if they were sent to the Phantom Zone or lost their powers in some other way. She had been through enough during her years with Superman to learn that anything was possible. And if growing up as a daughter of a tree star General had taught her anything, it was the importance of being prepared for all eventualities. Even if she didn’t want to push her kids into the super hero lifestyle, she knew that they would always be potential targets and thus needed to be able to defend themselves. 

Today though, Callum had no focus at all in training and got his ass seriously kicked by Ellen to the point where she actually broke his nose, leading to her mother yelling at her to hit the shower before breaking back Cal’s nose and forcing him to turn off his bracelet so he would heal. 

“What’s up with you today Cal?” she asked as she sat next to him on the porch, blood still trickling down his shirt. 

“Nothing… I don’t know… I have just been thinking about some stuff…”

“Ok, you know you can tell me anything, right sweetie?”

“It’s just… sometimes it sucks to have powers…”

“I get that son, but sometimes it’s kind of cool to, right? I mean, I wish I could heal like that when I broke something” she said and winked at him.

“Yeah, I guess I shouldn’t complain… But it’s not the powers really. It’s more… keeping secrets, you know.”

Lois knew only too well, and she had a feeling she could guess exactly what this was about. She put an arm around her son and tried to comfort him.

“It’s about Viola, right?”

“Yeah, there’s this dance coming up… And I was hoping she would ask me… But I’m scared too… I mean… I really like her mom… I think I may be falling in love with her actually.”

“I know honey, I could tell the very first time I met her…” she smiled at her son. “And I think she really likes you too…”

“Yeah, but how am I supposed to have a serious relationship with her? All I can offer is lies on top of lies…”

“Have you talked to Clark about this? He has been there you know…”

“No, he hasn’t…not really. When he was a kid it was just about him and his secret. It’s much worse for Ellen and me. If we were exposed, it would affect you and dad, the whole idea of Superman… not to mention the rest of the Justice League too. Even if I wanted to tell her about myself, you know they would never let me…”

“Would you trust her with your secret if it was just about you?”

“I don’t know… I mean, I trust her completely. But I don’t want to get her dragged into something either. I know the secret can be dangerous…”

“Well, perhaps you can’t tell her now. But if you are serious with her the day may come when you can. I think she would be able to handle it. She is tough! The League would have to do some background check of course, and then it would be her choice. Like you and Ellen did with Will when he found out, remember? We told him everything when J’ohn J’onzz was here and offered him a memory wipe if he felt it was too big of a burden to carry.”

“But I don’t know how can I get to know someone well enough to trust them with my secret without telling them my secret…If that makes sense?”

“I think it does, actually… But if she is the right person, she may be able to accept that you are keeping something from her if you promise to tell her when the time is right?”

“Like telling her that I have a secret without telling her what it is?”

“It might work, you know… and if she is the person I think she is, she will respect your privacy in this matter…”

“Perhaps you are right mom…” Cal said, feeling a little lighter. “I think I will take a shower and see if Ellen wants to go to the Beanery…” he smiled and kissed her on the cheek before going inside.

*

Both Ellen and Cal were in a good mood as they entered the Beanery forty-five minutes later, looking for their friends. 

“Oh, I kicked your butt so bad Cal…”

“Yeah, just because I let you…”

“Oh, right… really? You  _ let me  _ break your nose?”

“You didn’t actually break it El…” he said, elbowing her in the side as he saw Will and Viola.

“No, but I mean… I could have if I had wanted to… I so had you there…”

“Hi guys…!”

Cal met Violas gaze and felt his stomach do a backflip. He felt really nervous after almost deciding to try to maybe make a move. Almost. He was still a bit scared that it would screw up their friendship. Or that she would reject him when he couldn’t tell her everything… Or anything else that could go wrong…  _ God, why does it have to be so complicated? _ He thought when she smiled at him and he felt his heart race. She seemed a bit nervous too, and quickly excused herself to use the facilities.

“So did you seriously break his nose?” Will asked Ellen as soon as Viola was out of sight. 

“Yeah, there was blood everywhere… he looked sooo funny…”

“It was not funny! And I will never get the stains out of my favourite training t-shirt…”

“Then perhaps you should focus on the person you fight instead of thinking about… someone else…” Ellen smirked.

“Oh, were you a little love sick there man?” Will laughed. “Seriously, why don’t you just ask her out…?”

“Well, maybe I will… but not with you two nosy people listening…” Cal said quietly, just as Viola got back and squeezed herself down on the bench by his side. 

“So, did you finish your history paper?”

They sat around talking for a while before Viola announced she had to get back home before dinner. 

“Do you want me to drive you back? You don’t have your car, right?” Will asked, but shooting a meaningful glance at Cal.

“Or I could drive you? I have to...eh… run an errand to the department store for mum anyway.” Cal offered, thankful for the chance to be alone with Viola.

“Thanks Cal, that’s really nice of you…” Viola smiled happily, winking at Will.

  
  


“Ok, Cupid. What was that about?” Ellen asked Will when the others were out the door.

“I think she wants to ask him to the dance…” Will wiggled his eyebrows.

“Oh, wow. I sure hope he says yes. If he chickens out I will break his nose again…”

*

It was quiet in the truck as Callum and Viola drove through Smallville, apart from the sound of the rain outside the car. They kept glancing at each other, but neither could think of something to say.  _ God, I’m such a coward. When did I become such a coward? _ Cal kept asking himself.

He parked the car outside her house and she unfastened her seatbelt, but stayed in the car, facing him. They sat in silence for a while longer, listening to the heavy drops splashing on the windscreen. Viola chewed her lower lip absently, before she took a deep breath and mustered all of her courage.

“Cal, can I ask you a question?”

“Sure…” he answered, without meeting her eyes. For some reason, he was now so nervous his fingers were starting to feel a bit numb, and his heart was pounding heavily in his chest.

“Did anyone ask you to the dance yet?”

“No… or I mean, yeah. But nobody I wanted to go with…” he chanced a glance at her, which didn’t help with his nervousness at all.

“Do you want to go with me?”

“Yeah, sure… I mean… do you mean as friends, or…?”

“No, I mean as my date?” She looked him straight in the eyes, feeling her heart race again. She was terrified, but she had to see this through, or Will would never let her hear the end of it. And she would never forgive herself for chickening out either. 

He smiled and looked at her for several long seconds before he finally answered.

“I would really like that Viola… but…”

“But...?”  _ What the hell?  _ She thought. Was the coward going to turn her down? 

“No, I mean…” He sighed and tried to decide what to say. She waited patiently, although she really wanted to scream at him that he was an idiot. 

“Ok, Viola. Can I be totally honest with you?” he asked, looking a bit scared.

“Of course you can Cal, you know that...” 

“All right… here goes… You know I really like you, right?”

“As a friend…?” she asked a bit uncertain.

“No…. yes. That too… But I mean, I  _ really like _ you…” he met her eyes and smiled shyly, before he continued. “And I’m a bit scared, to be honest. I mean, what if we start dating and I screw it up?” he frowned a bit, hoping she would understand.

“Then don’t screw it up?” she tried, tentatively…

“Good idea…I’ll just do that.” he laughed, thankful that she kept it light. “But seriously. I don’t want to risk losing you as a friend. You are too important to me...” he took her hand and she felt warmth spreading from him. She was glad that he was honest, but she also thought he was being a bit of an idiot.

“I think I know what you mean Cal…and I’m kind of nervous too, you know? But I don’t think hiding our feelings for eachother is a straight road towards lasting friendship either…” she squeezed his hand a bit and smiled back at him. “I mean, someday I  _ would _ like to date someone… and if you are closing the door on me, do you think you would be ok with me seeing some other bloke? Because I honestly don’t know if I would like to hang out with you if you started to date someone else…”

Cal just stared at her. The thought of them actually seeing other people hadn’t really even occurred to him. But of course he couldn’t expect her to wait around forever while he got over his trust issues and made a move…

“I guess I didn’t really think that part through, huh…?” He smiled sheepishly.

“So will you come with me to the dance?” her heart started racing again.

“Ok, I will… I mean, I would love to… It’s just… one more thing…”

“Just one more?” she gave him a twisted smile.

“Yes. I’m sorry. But if we are going to… get involved, I have to talk to you about something…”

“Ok, go ahead…” she said, heart pounding even harder now. She both feared and hoped what would come. Was he going to tell her his secret?

“I know that you sometimes feel like we are keeping things from you?” It was a question, but also a statement. He knew that she suspected something…

“Yeah, it happens…”

“Well, the truth is that you are right. We  _ are _ keeping something from you… Me and Ellen.”

“Ok, are you going to tell me what it is?”

“I’m sorry, Viola. I really,  _ really  _ wish I could tell you. I do. But for now, I can’t. But I don’t want to lie to you about lying, if you know what I mean?”

“Eh, I don’t know if I can say that I do…” 

“I mean that right now, all I can tell you is that we have a secret that is somehow connected to our family. The thing is that it’s not really my secret to tell, and I would need permission from… higher up in the hierarchy, so to speak… to tell you about it.”

“So when will you be able to tell me?”

“I’m not sure… when the time is right? You would have to get to know some other people first… and I would also only tell you when I felt I know you well enough to think you can handle the truth… It’s not that I don’t trust you. But it’s kind of dangerous knowledge… In the meantime, I would have to ask you not to try to find out on you own. And never to tell anyone about this or talk to them about theories you might have… I mean, not even your dad or your brother.”

“Wow, that’s kind of harsh…” 

“I know… I really wish my life was simpler sometimes…” 

“How did your previous girlfriends react to this condition?”

“What? No, I never told anyone else about this… You know, I have never let anyone close enough to even let them notice that I am keeping something from them.” He smiled at her to let her understand she was special. 

They sat quiet for a while. Viola didn’t know what to say. She felt really disappointed that he couldn’t tell her. But she also believed him when he said it wasn’t his decision. The only problem was that she didn’t know if she would be able to just drop it and stop speculating… Right now, she had like a million crazy theories. Like that they were under some witness protection program, that their relatives were secretly crime bosses, that they were all meteor infected, or had super powers, or that they were spies, or vampires, or exiled heirs to a small, European kingdom… Finally she asked the one question that had been bugging her a bit.

“So, if I’m not ok with this, what would you do? I mean, now I know you are hiding something whether we are going out or not…?”

“Hm… I guess I hadn’t really thought that through either… I guess the answer is that we probably couldn’t stay friends either. I guess we would have been having this conversation sooner or later even if we were just friends. It’s more about how close we get than what kind of relationship we have… But I really hope it doesn’t come to that Viola. You mean so much to me. To us. And I promise you that I will tell you everything I can as soon as I can. I will never lie to you about anything else, ever. And usually, I would probably not lie anyway, just say that something is going on that I can’t share…”

“So, can I ask one thing… Will knows, right? But no one else at school?”

“Yeah…”

“Can you tell me when and why you told him?”

“Hm, ok. Well, it was about a year ago. We had been friends for a couple of years by then. And we didn’t make a conscious decision to tell him at first… he sort of found out, at least parts of it. And then we decided to tell him everything… It was either that, or we would have had to kill him…” Cal said with a small wink and a smile.

“You are kidding now, right?”

“Of course I am… don’t be stupid…”

“I know, I know. I really trust that you are a good guy Cal. But I would lie to you if I said that this isn’t freaking me out a bit. I’m getting all these crazy ideas in my head, and I am scared they will eat me alive. I don’t want to push you or force you to tell me anything… I am just a really curious person, and it will take some getting used to the idea that I can’t know all about you.”

“I understand that, Vi. And I really appreciate that you haven’t been pushing. That’s one of the reasons we have been able to let you in this far…” 

“Thanks, I think… but seriously Cal. I really hope I can do this, because the idea of losing you - and Ellen - scares me even more…” she smiled at him and he gave her one of his most charming, glacier melting, dazzling smiles back, feeling like a ton of weight had been lifted from his shoulders.

“Can I just ask one more thing?”

“Ok”

“It’s not that I think so, but I just have to get the idea out of my messy head… It’s nothing criminal, right? Or that you are secretly zombies or carrying some kind of strange disease…?” She blushed, scared that he would be angry with her for thinking something like that, but he just laughed.

“No, don’t worry… It’s nothing that bad…” 

“But it’s bad?”

“Not really… It has some upsides and some downsides to it, so to speak. Mostly, it’s just making things complicated because we have to lie to people. And once you know the truth, you will have to lie too. But Will took it really well, for example. He’s mostly glad that he knows.”

“Ok, that makes me feel a bit better… I think I can live with this explanation for now…”

“Really?” 

“Yes. If that means I get to take you to Christmas Formal as my date?”

“I would love to!” Cal said, and without hesitating, or thinking, or planning, he did what he had wanted for months. He bent forward and crushed his lips to hers in a passionate kiss. 

Viola was completely unprepared for the kiss. She had gotten so used to him dancing around her and pulling away if they got close that she would have guessed it would take him three more months to actually muster up the courage to kiss her. But once the element of surprise was gone, she leaned in and threw her arms around his neck, kissing him back eagerly. She had never been kissed like that. She was completely dazzled by him, feeling the world starting to spin. She never wanted it to end, and neither did he. He had waited for this moment for such a long time. Finally feeling her soft lips against his and being able to claim her as his. It was every bit as amazing as he had dreamed of and he realized, somewhere in his hazy brain, that he was a total goner. He wasn’t just falling in love with her, he too far along on that journey, with no return ticket. 

That night, Cal fell asleep with a silly grin on his face, and he slept better than he had done in years, dreaming about the auburn beauty he could now proudly call his girlfriend... He woke with a start and found himself floating a couple of feet above his bed before he crashed down on it, breaking it in half. 

Clark came rushing into his room when he heard the crash.

“What happened? Are you ok?”

“Yeah, I think I floated in my sleep…”

“Wow, that’s amazing. We have to tell Jor-El about it…” Clark said, flashing his son a big grin. 

As they had little knowledge of half-kryptonians they didn’t know how many powers they would inherit from their dad. Their uncle Connor was the closest thing they had to compare them with, but he was a clone and not a naturally conceived half-human. So far, Cal was almost as strong as Clark had been at their age and Ellen was not too far behind. They could super speed at about half of his speed and they had both developed super hearing. Ellen had started to get flashes of x-ray vision, but she hadn’t learned how to control it yet. None of them had shown any signs of heat vision or arctic breath so far though, but this was the first time any of them had been floating so it was clear that their powers were still developing. They had done some experimenting with blue and green Kryptonite, and while the blue took away their powers just like for Clark, they had an advantage of not being quite as sensitive to the green version as he was. It hurt as hell to be exposed to it, and Dr Emil thought it could probably be dangerous for them too if exposed for too long. But the reaction was not quite as violent as for Clark and they could still use their human strength and skills while exposed. 

Ellen came barging into the room, having overheard the big news... “Hey, you floated? Cool… But what did your poor bed do to deserve this?” she laughed at him as he lay sprawled in the middle of the heap of wood and cotton that had once been his bed. 

Cal’s new development was naturally the topic of conversation at the breakfast table where the whole family was gathered. That is, until his evil twin sister asked the wrong question…

“So Cal, did anything special happen to you last night that would make you float in your sleep…?” she smirked at him as he was blushing violently. Will had driven her home, and once Cal got back from his duty as chauffeur, she had already been in bed and didn’t feel like getting up again to force the truth out of him. But she had the feeling Will’s Cupid mission had succeeded, or Cal would have been back home much sooner. 

“What? Tellmetellmetellme…” Lois demanded.

“Thanks, Ellen…” Cal said sarcastically…

“Sorry, son, but it’s kind of an interesting question actually. I would like to know what triggers your powers…” Clark explained, half his attention on his toast, and thus not realizing exactly how embarrassed Cal was.

“Ok, so Viola asked me to the dance…” 

“I knew it! What did you say?” Ellen asked

“Well, we talked about it… I mean, us… and what it would mean for our friendship if we were dating”

“And?”

“And then we decided to give it a try… and we kind of… kissed.” he said, and shrugged, now blushing again.

“That’s great…I’m glad you finally got that out of the way” Lois said, and gave her son a hug. “So did you talk to her about your secret?” she asked.

Clark dropped his toast and choked on his coffee, panic flashing across his face.

“Relax dad, I didn’t tell her anything like that…” Cal quickly assured him. He didn’t know if Kryptonians could have a heart attack, but it was better to be on the safe side.

“So what did you tell her?”

“Well, she already knew we are hiding something. I mean, it’s kind of obvious if you hang out with us long enough, and she is a smart girl… So I talked to mom about it yesterday, and I decided to confess that I am hiding something, in return for her promising not to dig into it.” he tried to explain.

“And was she ok with that?” Lois asked.

“Well, she was not happy about it, but she said that she trusted me when I said I can’t tell her more and she decided she could accept it for now…”

“Hm, I guess that’s ok. But you know I want as few people as possible involved. And especially people we don’t know so well…” Clark said.

“Dad, you can’t expect us never to make friends or fall in love or date… And people close to us do notice that something doesn’t add up you know. I think Cal has been really patient and careful so far, never even bringing home girlfriends or friends other than Will. ” Ellen pitched in, defending her brother. “But Vi is different. We both love her dad. Even if she and Cal would break up someday, I think we would all remain friends. We can trust her.”

“We’ve had this conversation Ellen, it’s not just about trust. Knowing the secret also puts people in danger…” Clark started, a twinge of annoyance in his voice.

“No, I think you are wrong actually dad…” Cal interrupted. “It’s hanging out with us that puts people in danger. I only think that it would be fair if those close to us actually knew what they were getting themselves into… It’s not as if potential enemies know who knows the secret and who doesn’t. Let’s say, for argument’s sake, Doomsday would return tomorrow starting to attack your family or friends. Do you think he would spare my girlfriend because she didn’t know about me? Do you think he would even ask if she does? No, he wouldn’t. He would go after her for being my girlfriend, and thus being my weakness. Knowing who he is and who could help her would protect her rather than put her in danger… Like say back in the day when you were the Blur and mom didn’t know? Zod went after her anyway. He actually used the fact that that she  _ didn’t know _ against you and tricked her, right?” 

Everybody stared at Cal, without saying a word at first. It was obvious that he had given this a lot of thought. And both Lois and Clark had to admit that he made a fair point…

“I guess you are right… But it’s still dangerous for us to have outsiders know the secret. Even if they wouldn’t tell anyone on purpose, they could be drugged, or forced, or let it slip…”

“I know, I know…” Cal interrupted again “...and it’s not as if I want to tell the whole world. Or even Viola at the moment. But I would honestly like to tell her before things get too serious. Imagine we date for, say five years, and I tell her when I propose to her or when she gets pregnant or something, and it turns out she can’t handle the truth? I would rather like to know if it’s a deal breaker for her before I have invested my whole future into a relationship.”

“If she loves you, I’m sure she will accept you son...”

“It’s not about her accepting  _ me _ . I know you were worried about that when you grew up, but times are different now, thanks to you as a role model, actually. I am sure she will love me even if I’m half-kryptonian, maybe even more... But it’s not about that. It’s about a whole lifestyle now. Can I really just expect her to accept that she will never be able to have a normal life with me, no questions asked?” Cal crossed his arms over his chest and grumbled “I can sure tell you that I sometimes wish I had a normal life…”

“When did you become so wise, son?” Clark said smiling at him, after a while. It was obvious Cal had really thought about this for a long time. And he was right that the times were different now, most people looked up to and respected the heroes with or without powers. He also considered the fact that he sometimes wished he had told Lois much sooner.

“I learned from the best, dad…” 

“He must be talking about me…” Lois said smiling, and gave her son another hug. 

“I think Cal’s right” Ellen suddenly said, sounding a bit insecure now, which was unusual for her. “I mean, to be honest, it’s almost even worse for me. How many guys do you think can handle the knowledge that their girlfriend could pick them up and throw them across town if she got mad? I can’t even look at a guy without feeling I’m lying to him about who I am… and I can’t imagine getting into a serious relationship with anyone. Even if they can handle that I do martial arts and that I am independent, headstrong and sometimes prone to violent behaviour… “ she gave them all a small smile, but they could see a hint of tears in her eyes when she continued “...I think very few normal, human men could actually handle the whole truth.” 

Cal felt absolutely terrible for her. He had never considered that it might actually be worse for her, and she had never talked about her fears before, but it was obvious that she had been worrying about this for some time. Cal suddenly realized why she always refused to date. She had been flirting and dancing, or even making out, with guys at parties sometimes, and Cal always thought that she was just being careless. But now he realized she was terrified of getting into something serious because she didn't want to be rejected because of what she was, and that she felt like a fraud if she started dating like normal people.

“You know, sis. I think there is bound to be at least one guy out there who is man enough to handle you. And when you find him, he can consider himself a lucky guy!” Cal said, trying to reassure her. He knew it wasn’t good enough, though, but he really couldn’t think about anything else to say. He hoped she would at least feel his support. 

When the twins had left for school, Lois and Clark exchanged a proud look and a passionate kiss leaning against the kitchen wall.

“I think we have the smartest kids in the world,” Lois said.

“Yeah, and the most compassionate….” Clark added with a smile. “We must have done something right, huh?” he said and gave his wife a hug. 

*

News always tended to spread quickly through the corridors of Smallville High, and the fact that Callum and Viola were, finally, officially, dating was no exception. Cal didn’t care that people whispered behind their backs, as they walked hand in hand into the cafeteria at lunch break. He never cared too much about what people said anyway, and this time they were actually talking about something that was in fact true. And something he was happy to share with the world. He guessed some of the guys from the football team might be giving him a hard time later about the fact that he couldn’t seem to lose the stupid grin on his face all day, but it was so worth it. Some of his admirers from the cheerleading squad glared daggers at them from their table, but they weren’t really that surprised. In fact, most people had thought they were an item for a long time, but now that it was officially confirmed, some of the girls who had been swarming around Cal were still a bit disappointed. They all suspected that there was something different about Callum and Viola too. It probably wouldn’t be like his other dates or girlfriends that had lasted a couple of months at the most. And it wasn’t just that she didn’t look or act like the girls he had dated before. It was the way he was looking at her. This time, he had “taken” written all over him...

One girl in particular was feeling rather edgy today. Even if Veronica knew she had lost her chance with Callum a long time ago, she had never really gotten over him. Or the humiliating failed attempt at seducing him that had led to their break-up. The fact that she considered herself much prettier than Viola wasn’t making things better either. How the hell had that plain looking bitch, who didn’t even seem to own a hair brush, managed to get her claws into a guy like Cal? Couldn’t she see that he was way out of her league? In an especially bad surge of jealousy, she decided to take her revenge...

Veronica took the opportunity to strike that same afternoon as the girls were waiting by the pool while the guys took a swim test in PE. Viola was staring at Cal’s bare chest as he stood waiting for his turn to dive into the pool. It was a bit obvious that she was ogling, but she couldn’t help herself. He was just so gorgeous. And he was her boyfriend now, so she had the right to stare, she reasoned. She had known he was well built, but this was the first time she had actually seen him shirtless and it was a sight alright. She didn’t think she had ever seen such a perfect body. She suddenly felt a bit hot and flushed as she imagined touching those muscles…  _ Oh, yummy… and all mine…  _ She was ripped from her fantasy as Paige, one of the other girls in the class, made a comment…

“Oh, God… I could get used to this view…”

“Hey, that’s my boyfriend you are drooling over…” Viola said, half amused half annoyed.

“Yeah, I heard. Shit, you are one lucky girl you know?” Paige sighed and gave Viola a small shake of her head, as in trying to say that she could hardly believe her friend had managed this.

“Mmmhmmm… I know…” Viola turned to face the Paige again with a big grin on her face when she heard Veronica’s snarky voice from behind.

“Oh, I wouldn’t get too attached if I were you. He will probably get tired of you soon enough. He never dates anyone longer than like a month you know. And I can’t even begin to understand what he sees in you in the first place...”

Viola turned around and glared at her, but she didn’t feel like getting into an argument with the bitch, so she just rolled her eyes and went back to talking to Paige. But Veronica wasn’t giving up that easily, she had her mind set on embarrassing Viola. And Cal too if she got the chance.

“Just make sure you don’t let him get any, or he will dump you as soon as he’s done with you…” she snared, looking pleased with herself for a point well made.

_ That stupid bitch… _ Viola’s patience with that moron of a cheerleader was coming to an end. It was one thing for her to spread some crappy rumor when she was sad and angry, and another thing insisting on lying to people over and over again for months.

“Well, I’m honestly sorry if you were such a horror in the sack that he ditched you, but I’m not so worried about myself. You know, I actually know how to please a man, so if I can only get him to sleep with me I will make sure he never  _ wants _ to leave me…” she snapped, and both Paige, Ellen and some of the other girls snorted with laughter. Viola knew that it was a stupid, sexist, thing to say, but she hoped that anyone with half a brain would realize that she was only trying to provoke Veronica. And that part worked. 

“You bitch…” Veronica hissed through gritted teeth and slapped Viola in the face. Or, rather, she tried to slap Viola in the face but she was too quick and before Veronica knew it, she was knocked out cold on the floor. 

*

“Bloody hell, this is just so unfair” Viola huffed as they got out of school. “ _ She _ picks a fight with me and  _ I am _ the one who ends up in detention… why? Because I won it?”

“God bless America…” Will laughed. “That’s what you will get for defending your boyfriend’s honor in this place…”

“Do you think you dad will ground you forever or will you still be able to do movie night on Saturday?” Ellen asked, a bit worried. 

“Nah, I mean, I already got detention for the fighting, right? And he doesn’t need to know what I actually said to her, or he would probably ground me for a month…”

“Yeah, it was a bit vulgar, even for you Vi…” Ellen snorted.

“So, I don’t suppose you will tell us what you actually did say to make her slap you?” Callum tried innocently, for like the fifth time…

“Nope, for girl’s ears only…” Ellen quickly said and threw her arm around Violas neck as she dragged her away to the car. 

Cal looked longingly after them. Right now, he would rather have spent the afternoon with them chasing after leads to some story or whatever they were doing, than going to football practice. One of the other guys on the team came up and slapped Cal on the back.

“Come on dude, we have to get going…”

“Yeah…” he said absentmindedly, still watching Viola walk away.

“Are you sure she’s worth the trouble?”

“What? Oh… Viola? Yeah, any day man...” he grinned back.

“If you say so... But you’ve got a real tiger by the tail there Cal…”

*

Except for at school, Cal almost didn’t have any time at all to spend with Viola over the next weeks. First, he had to do extra football practice due to a big game and then he went with the team over the weekend to play a game in Grandville. The next weekend Viola had gone on a hiking trip with her dad that had been planned for a long time. And then, Cal was scheduled to train with Jor-El in the Fortress. He and Ellen took turns doing one weekend of training each month, and usually Cal really liked it there. But this time he would rather have been somewhere else… They had told Viola that Callum had to go to Metropolis to help his uncle, who was in town, with something, but Ellen would stay in Smallville and hang out with the girls. Viola’s dad was gone over the weekend, so they had arranged a girl’s movie night with a sleepover. They had invited Paige as well and Mia, a girl from Ellen’s Karate training who Viola also knew from English Litt. And they had taken mercy on Will, who was allowed to come and watch the movie if he brought pizza. 

Viola had been looking forward to the movie night, but she was a bit disappointed that Cal couldn’t be there. At first, she had thought it weird that he had to go to Metropolis just to help his uncle with something. But she quickly realized that it was probably a cover up for something else, and she had promised not to dig into it, even if it killed her not to know what he was up to. He had given her a ride home after school Friday though, and she had asked him to come in for a bit and help her with some math problem that she really didn’t need help solving at all. 

“You know, Cal, since we started going out I have hardly seen you outside of school…” she said, and wrapped her arms around him when they got inside. 

“Yeah, it’s really frustrating… But maybe we could go on a real date next weekend? I mean, we have the dance on Friday, but if you are free Saturday I would like to take you out…”

“Just you and me?” she said, pulling him closer. She locked her eyes with his beautiful blues and felt the electricity building up between them again and she was almost trembling with anticipation.  _ It has to be illegal to be so gorgeous _ she thought, completely losing track of what they were talking about as she leaned in a bit closer.

“That’s the idea of a date, right?” he mumbled, voice a bit husky now.

“Then I’m on...” she whispered and kissed him passionately. 

He let out a small moan as she pushed her tongue into his mouth and twisted her fingers in his hair to pull him closer. He wrapped one arm around her waist and held up her leg wrapped around his with the other as they kept kissing more and more eagerly. Suddenly, he remembered what he was doing there though, and pulled his lips away from her.

“We probably shouldn’t be doing this now…” he panted. 

“What? I think we definitely should be doing exactly this… It’s what couples do after all...” she smiled a twisted smile at him.

“No, but I mean right now… I don’t have much time before I have to leave and you needed help with your math homework, right?”

“Oh, screw math… I just wanted to get you into my bedroom you know…” she winked at him and crushed her lips to his again.

“You are one seriously wicked woman, you know that right?” he smiled between kisses. 

“I just have to do something to make sure you don’t forget about me if you meet some hot girls in Metropolis this weekend…” she said and pushed him down onto her bed. 

“Oh God Vi…” he moaned again as she straddled him and bent down to kiss him again, her long hair now flowing down on his chest. “You know, I can give you a one hundred percent guarantee I won’t think about anything but you this whole weekend. I’m going to be completely useless...”

“Good…” she smiled at him and rolled around, dragging him along so they lay on their sides with their legs intertwined and arms wrapped around each other. 

They were rolling around on her bed, making out, for heaven knows how long. Cal completely lost track of time, as well as the ability to form coherent thoughts. It was something about kissing Viola that made his brain short circuit. It felt like a hazy dream somehow. She was so soft, and warm, and she smelled so wonderful. Her kisses sent shivers down his spine and he just wanted more and more. He pulled her even closer, not caring about that she would probably notice his jeans bulging... He could hear her heart race and feel the desire in her kisses too, she was obviously just as turned on as he was, which was a satisfying thought.

Somewhere, a part of his brain was telling him that they should probably stop this now before it went too far, but he couldn’t make himself pull away. Instead, he twisted his hands into her long, thick hair and started tracing kisses down her neck, which made her moan loudly and squirm beneath him. It was obvious she wanted him as much as he wanted her, and he was still completely ignoring the little voice in his head that said that they should slow things down. Then she pulled up his t-shirt out of his jeans, and snaked her hands in under it to claw her nails down into his back as she pushed herself against his groin. This was too much for him though, and he felt like his whole body was going to explode with desire. He suddenly felt an unsettling burning sensation in his eyes, and he realized just in time what was happening to him. 

“Oh crap….” he let out a groan and pulled away from her abruptly and almost jumped off the bed, turning around and closing his eyes as he fumbled with his bracelet. Not a second too soon, he managed to twist it open to expose the small pearl of blue kryptonite and he sighed in relief as the feeling disappeared. The question was if she had noticed... 

“What’s wrong Cal…?” Viola asked, staring at him curiously, an edge of frustration in her green eyes. Why did he jump away like that? She wondered if she had gone too far by almost taking off his t-shirt... Despite his reputation as a player, it was clear to her that he was in fact quite inexperienced in the sexual department. Had she freaked him out? Sure, they had only been officially dating for like three weeks, but they had been “more than friends” for several months, with heaps of unresolved sexual tension building between them. And they had been taking every opportunity to kiss or make out in different hidden corners at school these last weeks. Sure, this was the first time they had actually been alone in an empty house with the opportunity to take it further, should they have wanted to. But it wasn’t as if she had stripped off all his clothes or something. In fact, he had seemed as eager has she was when he kissed her… Perhaps he had been close to coming even without her actually touching him? She smiled a bit inwardly at the idea that she could have that effect on him. But when he turned around and looked at her again, he didn’t seem embarrassed or flushed, he actually looked a bit scared. 

“Um, I forgot the time… I was supposed to be halfway to the… eh… I mean, to Metropolis by now.” he stuttered, quickly trying to cover up that he had almost slipped in his state of half panicked, half turned on…

“Oh, ok…. How am I supposed to make it through the weekend now...huh?” she gave him a small smile before she stood up and pressed him against the wall and kissed him again. Somehow, it felt a bit different to kiss him this time. Like if something had changed but she couldn’t tell what it was. He was a bit gentler, perhaps? A bit insecure… She didn’t think more about that though, instead she asked him if he would have his cellphone in Metropolis.

“I’m not sure if I will be able to call, but I will text you, ok?” he said as he kissed her one last time before reluctantly pulling away. He was still a bit freaked out by the almost-accident and it was true that he was running late, so he really needed to get away from there right now. He needed to think.

In all honesty, heat vision was a power that he had almost hoped he wouldn’t develop. Not that it couldn’t come in handy from time to time, but it was clearly dangerous to lose control of. And it somehow made him feel less human. It was one thing to accept a guy who was very strong and fast, and with better hearing and sight than normal people. Shooting fire out of his eyes somehow made him feel a bit more like a freak. He decided not to tell anyone at home about this, for now, as he didn’t want any more awkward discussions about his love life at the breakfast table. His uncle Connor was supposed to meet him at the Fortress this weekend, perhaps it would be easier talking to him than to his father about this?

*

Viola was lying flat on her back in her bed for probably an hour after Cal left, unable to make herself get up and start making dinner, as she should. She was overwhelmingly frustrated that she had been left hanging like that, unsatisfied. But she was also stupidly happy, feeling like she was floating around on a pink cloud. Her unbelievably hot boyfriend didn’t just happen to have a body to die for, he was also a magnificent kisser. Just the right combination of gentle and determined. Sensual and passionate. 

She hated it when guys were too careful and insecure, treating her like she was some fragile thing and too shy to touch her at all. But she also hated to be manhandled by some over confident jerk who used just a little too much force. The type who tended to move too quickly onto groping her most private parts without appreciating that she had a whole body to explore. That type usually didn’t get much further with her anyway, before receiving a well placed punch to put an end to further activities. Now she was grinning with satisfaction knowing that her boyfriend definitely didn’t fit into either of those categories. True, they hadn’t really made it far down the many possible roads of snogging yet, but she had enough experience to notice that Cal was in a category all of his own. And it was definitely a promising one… She felt the desire flow through her body again, just thinking of him. Damn, that guy… She decided she would have to do something about her hot and bothered state on her own if she was going to survive this weekend without him, but pleasuring herself while fantasizing about him felt highly unsatisfying compared to having been entangled with his soft, warm body just hours ago… She managed to push herself over the edge to get some kind of release though, and with a sigh, she rolled over and fell asleep, completely forgetting about dinner. 

She was just lost in an unsettling dream where she was rushing around the streets of Metropolis searching for Cal, who was nowhere to be found, when her dad gently prodded her awake. Since she had not managed to cook, and he had to pack for his trip, they ended up ordering take-out which they ate in front of the TV while she told him about her plans for the weekend. He was a bit suspicious about the sleepover at first, thinking it was just an excuse to have her boyfriend stay the night, but at long last he believed her when she said he was out of town.

“Ohh, that’s fine then...” he said, relief audible in his voice...

“How in the whole wide world is that fine? Have you considered the fact that I would actually have _ liked _ to spend time with my boyfriend… or I wouldn’t be dating the bloke?” she huffed, pouting a bit. 

Her dad was usually quite understanding, and since she was well over eighteen now he didn’t really think that it was his place to decide what she did with her love life. Growing up in various European countries, they also had a different view on sex and relationships than most people in Smallville seemed to have anyway. Viola had realized that some of her girlfriends weren’t allowed to have boyfriends stay the night, even if their parents evidently knew that they were having a mature relationship. Viola thought that was pure hypocrisy - how in the whole world was it better for their kids to shag in the backseat of some car or in a bush somewhere than in their own bed? But parents weren’t always rational when it came down to their children’s sexuality she figured. Luckily, her own father was smarter than that… Although, for some reason, he seemed a bit overprotective when it came to Cal.

“Oh, no. I didn’t mean it like that. I just don’t think you should rush into anything with him, that’s all.”

“Rushing into anything? Are you serious? We had been friends for months before we even kissed, dad. If we were taking it any slower we would go backwards…”

“I know love, but it’s just something… well, a bit off with him... I don’t know. I can see that you two are crazy about each other, and I think it’s great. Part of me really thinks he’s a great guy. But still. I can’t shake the feeling that he’s hiding something Vi. I can’t put my finger on it, but something just doesn’t add up. He’s just so… polite.” 

“Oh, heaven forbid that your daughter would actually be dating a nice guy, right?” Viola smirked. At first, she had feared her dad was actually on to Cal and his secret, but now she realized that his biggest problem was the lack of an obvious fault in him. He didn’t have any tattoos, didn’t drink, didn’t smoke, had good grades and came from a well respected family. Truth to be told, it wasn’t the type she usually dated… And where most parents would probably resent their daughter dragging some hard core heavy metal type home, Viola’s father had always found it easier to deal white the obvious shortcomings of people than the hidden ones. Because he knew nobody was perfect anyway...

“Don’t worry dad. Cal’s not perfect, but I seriously doubt that he is hiding some deep dark secret under that handsome exterior… I trust him completely.” Viola found it a bit unsettling how easy the lie slipped out of her to protect Cal. The truth was that she knew for a fact he was hiding some deep dark secret, and she didn’t even know what it was. And yet, here she was brushing it off as a joke without even a hint of a flinch.

“I know, love. And I don’t want to stand in your way. I just think you should get to know him better before… getting too attached, if you see what I mean. I know how you like to dive into things without hesitating, and I just don’t want to see you get hurt... ” her father answered with a smile. 

“I appreciate that, but you don’t have to worry about it. Maybe if you got to know him better, you would see that too. Know what? Maybe I could invite him and Ellen to come along on our next hiking trip? Then I can see if he’s capable of handling a bit of adventure too…” she winked at her father and he just shrugged his shoulders in a well-if-you-must kind of way. 

*

Viola was singing along to the tunes of Radiohead as she was rumbling around the kitchen preparing for her guests to arrive. She was looking forward to some distraction that night. Not that she would ever admit it to anyone, but she had spent most of the night last night and this morning daydreaming about Cal and missing him terribly. Hell, she was officially a mess. She wasn’t usually the kind of girl to let her world revolve around a guy. No matter how unbelievably, irresistibly cute he was…

She put beer in the fridge and opened a bottle of wine as she chopped up some vegetables and stirred the garlic dip. She hadn’t planned on anyone getting drunk, but offering a couple of drinks wouldn’t hurt… right? She had never spent an evening like this with the girls here in Smallville, except for Ellen and Will (just for tonight, she had decided to count him in with the girls since it would just make it easier), and she didn’t really know what they expected. 

She needn’t have worried about the offering of drinks though, since they had all brought something along, except for Will who brought pizza for them all, and was going to drive home later. He was happy to be invited to hang out with them, but he thought it might lead to unnecessary talking behind their backs if he actually spent the night alone in a house with four girls. Although most of his friends knew or suspected what his preferences were, he knew some of the less pleasant crowds of Smallville High would probably take the opportunity to give him a hard time if he was too open about it. 

Four pizzas and two bottles of wine later, they had all but forgotten about the movie they were supposed to watch, and were having some fun bashing cheerleaders, teachers they didn’t like and other morons in school behind their backs. Ellen had spelled out the rules for girls’ night: it was ok to shamelessly trash the evil crowd, hand out points of various degrees of hotness to guys in their class and ask for details about their friends love lives. And the most important rule of all, the one that allowed for the other rules to work, was that anything one said at girls’ night could never, ever leave the room. They all rolled around laughing as Ellen re-told the story of how Viola ended up in detention to Mia, who hadn’t been there, and to Will, who hadn’t heard what she had actually said.

After a while, Ellen was starting to feel a bit left out though as the other girls were getting more and more tipsy and thus daring in their conversation topics. She decided that drinking just a little bit wouldn’t hurt. After all, Cal wasn’t there to catch her… When Mia asked Viola how far she had gotten with Cal and if he was a good kisser she excused herself and dragged Will into the kitchen.

“Seriously Mia, I know that it’s a valid question right in line with the rules of girls’ night. But since it’s currently the sexual performance of my brother you are discussing, I think I may throw up if I have to hear the answer… So I will just make a quick tour to the kitchen and get some more beer while Vi answers that, ok? Will, can you help me…?”

“Hey, I wanted to hear that…” he pouted, but followed Ellen, laughing. 

“Ok Will, this is the thing…” she whispered as they entered the kitchen. “Please don’t freak, but I really just want to get a tiny bit tipsy too… I know Cal’s all stuck up about this, but I am sure it doesn’t do any harm. Just for an hour or so? Ok?” She said and twisted her bracelet until the blue k was visible.

“I don’t know Ellen. Is it really such a great idea?”

“Relax, it’s just a couple of beers. And I will just do it for an hour or so… and then I will twist it back. If it should get out of hand, you will have to stop me, ok?”

“Like how, exactly...?” He did not like this idea one bit.

“I don’t know… slap me in the face, or throw a glass of water at me or something? I promise to twist it back as soon as you give me a sign, or at the latest - she glanced at the clock in the kitchen - in an hour, ok? And girls’ night rules apply.  _ You can’t tell Cal _ . Ok?”

“Ok, but if I tell you to stop and you don’t listen, I will tell him. Ok?” 

“Deal!” she exclaimed happily and hugged him before she went for the fridge to get a beer.

Viola quickly withdrew a couple of steps and hurried back into the living room. She had been going after them to say that she was sorry for bringing up the general hunkyness of her brother, since she had feared that Ellen was actually offended. Now, she realized it had just been an excuse to drag Will out in order to ask him this strange favor. Once again, she was faced with the mystery that was the Lane-Kent twins. Ellen had been drinking all evening, Viola had definitely seen her do it, and now she was suddenly asking for permission from her friend. And they were definitely talking about beer, not about drugs. And what was the part about the twisting? Twisting what? So odd… She knew she had promised not to dig, but this had been a total accident, really. And she couldn’t help wondering… She shook the feeling quickly and dived right back into the conversation about Cal though, as she didn’t want Ellen to suspect anything.

Ellen couldn’t believe that they were not done with the subject of her brother yet, as they returned into the living room. She actually thought it was a bit funny how they were all swooning over him, but she would never admit that so she covered her ears with her hands in a very demonstrative way and made a sour face as they went on about how jealous they were of Viola landing such a hunk of a boyfriend. 

“But you haven’t actually done it yet, right?” Mia asked

“God, no. We have only been officially dating for three weeks you know…” she said indignantly, as if it was a horrifying thought. “...and we haven’t been alone for more than like two minutes since then, so we haven’t had much of an opportunity mind you…” she added with a smirk.

Paige and Mia laughed at her boldness.

“I knew you were trying to get into his pants you wicked woman…” 

“Have you seen the bloke? Sorry, I don’t mean to make you all jealous here, but how long would you last if you had a boyfriend with a body like that…? And he’s an amazing kisser too I might add…” she said with a dreamy expression.

“Ok, yieks. Enough with the talk of you doing my brother now before I am traumatized for life…” Ellen interrupted, having seriously heard more than necessary.

“Mia, how was the date with the new guy in Karate Class?” she asked, hoping to switch the subject. 

“Ew, nope. I don’t even want to talk about that. He was nice enough to look at, but turned out to be a real moron. And he was a terrible kisser too…”

“Which kind of terrible?” Viola asked, curious.

“Are there different kinds of terrible?”

“Yeah, duh… There are the sloppy ones who make you feel like you are kissing a wet fish, the over eager ones who have too many hands and can’t take a hint, and the insecure ones who don’t seem to have any hands at all…” she explained, and saw the others laughing and nodding in understanding.

“Ok so then he was the fish-type I guess. Like I said, eeew…”. They all giggled at this statement.

“Hm, the part of the evening where we are sharing details of our love life is going to end fairly quickly then, if we can’t talk about Cal and Viola and the rest of us are single…” Paige complained.

“What about theoretical then? Like, who would you sleep with if you had the chance?” Mia suggested.

“I would have to say Cal…” Viola said innocently, and the others rolled their eyes at her and laughed.

“Yeah, wouldn’t we all… except Ellen of course…You’re not sharing, right Vi?” Paige sniggered.

“Hey, don’t you dare even thinking about that you horny bitch…” Viola laughed and threw a pillow at her.

“How about Andy in our English litt class? He’s kind of cute…” Mia suggested.

They went through the guys at school, but sadly concluded that there was a serious lack of real hunks who weren’t total morons or jackasses there so they quickly moved on to discussing the various degrees of hotness of some actors and rock artists. This was a topic of conversation they all could join in. Until….

“Hey, what about Superman? He’s got a body to dream about. Imaging doing him…” Paige suggested, raising her eyebrows.

Both Ellen and Will choked on their drinks and froze. 

“Ok, that’s gross...” Ellen blurted out and then quickly added “I mean, he’s like a hundred years old… right?” with an insecure glance at Will, hoping nobody noticed her first reaction of shock.

“I think he’s like ageless… right? I mean, he apparently looks just like he did ten years ago… Maybe aliens age slower than humans…” Mia tried.

“Ok, so maybe he’s two hundred years… how’s that any better?” Ellen tried to stomp the topic to death, but with little success. 

“Or he’s just twenty in alien-years…? Just go with me here…” Paige continued…

“No, I won’t. Because the road you’re going down is seriously twisted…” 

“Why are you so offended all of a sudden, have you gone all prude on us now?” Viola asked.

“No, it’s just…” she looked at Will, begging....

“I agree it’s a tiny bit tasteless… I mean, the man has literally saved the world on several occasions, and all you can think about is getting into his tights?” Will tried, but it didn’t really help.

“Ok” Paige tried, she was a bit too drunk and wasn’t willing to let the subject drop. She had a point she wanted to make, after all… “So let’s say he has a son…”

“Who?”

“Superman…”

“Why?”

“I just think it’s an interesting topic. Think about it. Sex with a guy who is superstrong, has superspeed and can fly? Imagine the things he could do to you…”

“Woah, sex floating in the air? Wow, I could do that… Ok, so the son of Superman is now officially our dream shag, right?” Viola exclaimed, sniggering… and the others joined her, except for Ellen, who was at a loss of words.

“Don’t you have a boyfriend to drool over…” she huffed, a bit sourly. She knew it was stupid to feel like Viola was cheating on Cal in her head, when a) it was actually Cal she was talking about even if she didn’t know it, and b) she knew they were only joking. But still...

“Yeah, but I thought we were talking theoretical now…” Viola winked, but Ellen still seemed a little offended so she punched her lightly on the arm and added “Hey, come on, I’m just kidding…I wouldn’t trade Cal for anyone on this planet. I promise you. Even if the son of Superman offered me super sex floating above the rooftops, I wouldn’t sleep with him... You believe me, right?”

“Of course I do…” Ellen answered, now desperately fighting the urge to burst out laughing at the hilarious irony. She saw out of the corner of her eye how Will also had tears in his eyes from trying so hard not to laugh. 

*

“I am so looking forward to the day when we can give her hell for promising never to sleep with the son of Superman…” Will finally burst out laughing when he and Ellen were alone in the kitchen getting some more drinks.

“Maybe we should make a bet with her about it?” she roared with laughter too. 

“ _ I solemnly swear, I will never ever sleep with the son of Superman, or I will do all of Will’s and Ellen’s homework for the rest of my life… _ ” Will declared with his hand crossed over his heart, imitating Viola’s voice.

“Oh shut up, will you…” Ellen sighed after a while, composing herself. “I want a simpler life, you know…. A simpler life.”

“I’m sorry. I can see that this conversation wasn’t your favorite part of the evening…”

“Ok, so the last bit was kind of funny, I admit. But imagine your girlfriends talking about who would do you dad? Yieks….” 

“I can see your point… But do you think they do it?”

“Who does what?”

“Mr and Mrs Superman? Floating in the air?” 

“Oh, God. Stop it… I don’t know. I haven’t actually thought about that possibility. I can ask them if you want? -  _ Hey, guys. Will wants to know if you do it in the air…” _ she sniggered mocking him and he hit her with a towel and laughed again.

“Perhaps you should sober up now, huh?”


	4. Christmas formal and blue kryptonite

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which there's a school dance, a bit of drama ensues, Cal screws up and ends up grounded (and completely cock-blocked, mind).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's a very minor, but kind of explicit, smutty section in this chapter, it's between the *** paragraphs in case you want to avoid it, but it's really quite innocent...

The day of the Christmas dance finally came, and Callum was a bit nervous. He hadn’t been alone with Viola since the night he left for the fortress. He had been practicing a bit with his new power with Connor, but he was yet to gain control over it. He was considering if he should just expose himself to the blue K the whole evening, but he was sure Ellen would notice and confront him, and for some reason he hadn’t told Ellen about it yet. He would have to be on his watch for any signs of overheating… He hadn’t had any problems in school, but then again, they had only been around other people, and hadn’t done much more than some innocent kissing and holding hands. He suspected that this dance would bring ample opportunities of intimacy, and she would probably be wearing something more tempting than her usual jeans and t-shirts. 

He was going with Ellen and Will to pick her up, but they waited in the car while he knocked on her door. 

“Hi Mr Andersson, is Viola ready?” he greeted Viola’s father in the door.

“Come in Callum, she will be right down. And haven’t I told you on numerous occasions my name is Sven? If you are going to be hanging around the house, you will have to get used to our quaint customs.” he said with a smile.

Viola's father was half Swedish, half German, but had spent most of his youth in Sweden before he met Violas mother and moved to England. People weren’t so formal in Sweden, he had tried to explain, and everybody used first names all the time. The children even called their teachers by their first names, which sounded really odd to Cal. Will had asked Viola if her father was named after the reindeer in Frozen, but she had just punched him for being so stupid and laughed. “I know my dad’s kind of youthful looking, but that movie came out long after he was born. It’s actually not an uncommon name in Scandinavia, you know…”

If Cal was expecting Viola to look pretty tonight, he sure wasn’t disappointed. His mouth fell open when she glided down the stairs like cut out of a classic chick flick; where the mediocre girl is suddenly transformed into a prom queen. Except Cal hadn’t ever thought of Viola as anything close to mediocre before either. True, she wasn’t the classic beauty, nor did she usually go through any trouble to make the most of her appearance. Cal knew that some guys were more into girls who dressed up in more provocative outfits than the jeans and t-shirts that Viola usually wore, and who bothered with make-up and painted nails and stuff. But although some of his friends thought Viola was kind of plain in comparison, Cal had always found her stunning. He admired her natural beauty and slightly wild appearance with her long, curly hair that was usually a bit messy and tangled. He preferred that to fake boobs and heavy eye lashes any day of the week.

But today, anyone could see that she was breathtakingly beautiful in a green silky dress that was flowing from her body and showing off every curve in the most flattering way. It was very tasteful, without too much cleavage in the front, but a very large part of her back was exposed, only covered by her long hair, which looked almost more red than usual with the green dress to contrast it. He was glad that she hadn’t tried to do some complicated knot or other hairstyle. He loved it when her long, thick hair was flowing down her shoulders like that. It did look a bit silkier and more well groomed than usual, though, so she had probably done something to it. She even wore makeup today, which was unusual for her, but Cal didn’t think it made much of a difference - she was always pretty to him. Anyway, he had a hard time focusing on her face when she wore that dress… When she turned around and flipped her hair, Cal could see the bare skin of her back. She didn’t even seem to be wearing a bra… His treacherous dick twitched with interest and he swallowed hard and desperately fought against getting an embarrassing erection confronted while standing next to his girlfriend’s dad. 

Viola was both pleased and a bit amused at the expression in her seemingly speechless boyfriend’s face. But she couldn’t let him keep staring at her like that with her dad watching and all either, so she decided to break the awkward silence.

“So how do I look? Do you still want to go with me to the dance or have you changed your mind?” she winked at him.

Cal snapped out of his paralysis looking a bit embarrassed. But it was too late to pretend he hadn’t been ogling her, so he flashed a big smile instead, hoping she would forgive him.

“Eeh, I think I have changed my mind actually... I can’t take you out like that or the other guys will try to steal you away from me…”

She gave him a stern look and he continued. “Seriously Viola, you look amazing…” he gave her a chaste kiss on the cheek and took her hand. 

Christmas Formal started out as a real success. It wasn’t as tense or loaded as the spring formal, but everyone was still in a great mood as the holidays were coming up. The dance was held in the large cafeteria, where the tables had been removed and a large christmas tree was lighting up the room along with a strange mix of red christmas decorations and pink and purple disco lights. They had a great time dancing and hanging around with their friends, and Cal was happy to finally be spending some quality time with Viola. But he was also constantly annoyed at the way the other guys kept staring at his girlfriend. He wasn’t the kind of guy who went out with a pretty girl to show her off in front of his friends; and right now, he would have preferred if Viola had worn some old jeans and an oversized shirt. Or maybe a flannel bathrobe? Anything but that impossibly sexy dress that didn’t only make other guys drool, it also made it very hard for Cal to focus on simple things, like answering questions he was asked...

“Hey, earth to Callum Lane-Kent…”

“What?”

“I said I can see you point…” It was one of the guys from the football team who was now punching him lightly on the arm to get his attention.

“What point? Did I make a point?”

“No, I mean from the other day? When I asked you if she was worth it? I can see what you mean…”

“What? Are you talking about Viola…?”

“Yeah, man. God, she looks great… and is she even wearing anything under that dress? It sure doesn’t look like it. You are one lucky bastard you know Cal.”

“Seriously? That’s my girlfriend you are talking about… she’s not a piece of meat you know…” Cal was getting really annoyed now, feeling a strong urge to punch his teammate in his drooling face.

“Jeez, sorry man… I won’t look at her again. Cross my heart… But she’s looking a bit too hot for her own good. I honestly don’t know how you’re able to stop yourself from jumping her right here and now…” he said with an apologetic smile.

“Ok, now you are seriously out of line. Stop talking about her like that or I will have to punch you…” he said with eyes narrowing. “But you have a point though. I’ve been working hard on my willpower all evening. It helps to know that she would probably kick my ass if I tried anything funny on the school christmas dance….” he smirked. 

He wasn’t entirely sure that last part was true though. He was pretty sure Viola was doing her absolute best to seduce him. Or torture him. Or whatever she was doing. But she was constantly flirting with him even when they weren’t dancing, and took every chance to flip her hair around so that he would see her naked back when only he was looking. When the opportunity for a slow dance came, she dragged him onto the dance floor, pressing herself flush against him and clawed her nails into his back. He couldn’t stop himself from bending down to kiss her and his hands wrapped around her, feeling the naked skin on her back. They both moaned quietly, and Cal could feel her nipples getting hard under her dress and he had to quickly twist his bracelet to blue when he felt the now familiar, burning sensation in his eyes.

“God, you’re killing me Vi…” he whispered huskily into her ear…

“So what do you say we get out of here…?” she suggested tentatively.

“Where? Ellen has the car keys...” Cal panicked a bit. Did she mean what he thought she meant? Not that he didn’t want her desperately, but he wasn’t really ready to take it all the way. He hadn’t even made up his mind about if that was something he could do without telling her his secret… And he definitely didn’t want their first time to be in the backseat of the truck or sneaking around in some public place.

“We could just sneak into some empty classroom for a bit, you know…”

“Are you sure that’s a good idea…?”

“Relax, it’s just a bit of snogging. I’m just sick of everyone staring at us kissing… Or even worse, not being able to kiss my hot boyfriend at all…” she smiled at him and dragged him out of the room.

Sure enough, she managed to find an empty classroom that was open, and they closed the door, reaching desperately for each other at the same time, lips crushing together.

Cal lifted her up on one of the tables, fitting himself between her legs. He had to hoist her dress almost all the way up her thighs not to rip it, but she didn’t mind. She pressed herself against his hard body and tangled her hands into his hair as her mouth eagerly kept exploring his. She wanted him so badly, she could hardly stop herself. She knew that having sex in an empty classroom probably wasn’t a very good idea, and she also wanted their first time together to be a bit more romantic. But right now, she was so turned on she didn’t know how to be able to stop it if he didn’t. We can always just touch… she reasoned. It would probably not take much to drive either of them over the edge after months of sexual tension building up between them. 

***

She pulled his shirt out of his pants, and squeezed the bulging muscles of his back forcefully. He groaned and pressed his hardness firm against her center, while letting out a small gasp as she now trailed her kisses down his neck and clawed her nails into his shoulders under his shirt. Cal stroked her naked back, tentatively pushing his hand a bit under her dress so he could reach around her waist and feel the side of her breast. She moaned with pleasure and twisted her body a bit so he could reach her nipple, and he squeezed it gently. 

Cal was going wild with desire, not only from the way her body felt against his, and from the passionate kisses they shared. It was the way she whimpered with pleasure when he touched her that really made him lose his mind to the hazy fog of lust. He couldn’t believe this gorgeous, sexy, amazing girl was his... Deep down, he knew he didn’t want really want this to happen like this. Not if he would let his brain decide anyway. But his brain seemed to be on hiatus right now, and he just moaned into her mouth as she started to move her hips a bit, creating the most amazing sensation of friction between them. When she started fumbling with the button in his pants, he came to his senses and held her back for a moment.

“I don’t know if this is such a good idea, Vi… I’m not saying I don’t want you, but I just want our first time together to be special, you know?” he panted, voice low and raspy.

“I know, I don’t want to go all the way like this either… We can just touch… I just want to feel you...” she whispered back.

“Ok, just promise me we will be able to stop… I think I lost my brain somewhere on the dance floor…” he smiled before he caved into her suggestion and claimed her mouth in a passionate kiss again.

Viola felt a rush of excitement as she undid the button in his pants, slowly reaching down inside his boxers. Her stomach twisted with desire and anticipation as she closed her hand around his throbbing cock. Oh, bloody hell, he’s big… she thought as he groaned loudly with pleasure. She was practically yearning to feel that huge erection inside of her. But no. They really shouldn’t… At the same time, Cal brushed one of his hands gently up the inside of her thighs and gently stroked his thumb against her wet panties. She deepened their kiss and wiggled against his hand, desperately wanting more. He obeyed and pushed the thin fabric to the side, carefully letting a finger slide inside her wetness while pressing his thumb against the bundle of nerves above. 

“Oh, God, Cal… Fuck...” she moaned into his mouth as she arched her back and pushed herself harder against his hand. She was already so close to the edge, she was probably going to climax in thirty seconds if he kept doing this. 

Cal felt another rush of almost unbearable arousal as she moaned his name, while squeezing him in her hand. He had officially never been this turned on in his entire life. Nor had he ever been so hard… He didn’t think he could take it for more than another ten seconds before it would get embarrassing… He put his other hand on her arm and panted in her ear.

“You have to stop it, or I’m gonna come…”

***

“What was that?” Viola suddenly pulled away from him, panting, glancing around nervously. Cal heard it too. As the noise came closer, it was evident that what they heard was students running down the corridor, screaming. They broke apart, straightening their clothes and hair and rushed out of the door.

“Damn, I can’t believe this! Why do we always have to be interrupted just when it’s getting good… I swear I will explode any day now…” Viola muttered under her breath... 

Cal just groaned irritably, feeling just as frustrated as she sounded. As soon as the fog lifted from his mind, he was getting a bit worried though. What had happened? He twisted the bracelet so it was hiding the blue k again and tried to listen. Sure enough, he heard Ellen screaming his name from the dance floor, along with some serious sounds of fighting.

“Cal, where the hell are you? I could use some help here…. Will, get those people out of here...” her voice was piercing high in his ears now, once he could hear it, and his heart started to race. Was she in trouble because he hadn’t heard her?

“Ellen...damn….” he swore as he raced through the corridor, against the stream of people, followed by Viola.

“Don’t go back there, some kind of meteor freak is on a rampage on the dance floor…” somebody yelled at him, but he didn’t stop to look who it was. 

As he entered, he saw Ellen flying across the room, crash landing into the wall on the other side. A blond kid he vaguely recognized as a junior who had been a class under them, but who had transferred the year before, was standing in the middle of what had once been the dance floor, looking menacing. 

“Get out of here” Cal shouted at Viola, who naturally didn’t listen. Then he launched himself at the guy from behind. He was strong, and Cal could feel the weakening effect of the kryptonite in his system, but he managed to pin him down to the ground. The blond twisted around and punched Cal in the face, while sending some kind of shockwave through the room, causing debris to fall from the walls and roof. Cal fell off of him in the aftermath of the shockwave, and got kicked in the side, flying across the room too. He landed right next to Ellen, and managed to shake her awake. 

“Are you ok?” he whispered. 

“Yeah, a bit sore…” she moaned, holding her head with one hand. 

Cal suddenly felt the panic rising when he saw the blond kid advancing on Viola, who had been knocked out by the shockwave, and he stumbled to his feet. 

“Wait, distract him and we take him together on three, ok?” he heard Ellen whisper.

“HEY, leave her alone” Cal shouted across the room and the blond turned around.

“Or you’re going to do what? All the girls in this stupid school laughed at me when I tried to ask them to come with me to a dance. Now I can have anyone I want. And you can’t stop me…”

“...three” Cal heard Ellen whisper, and they both rushed towards him at the exact same time.

*

Viola woke up, feeling like she had the worst hangover ever. She didn’t dare to open her eyes at first, when she remembered what had happened. She had seen Ellen flying into a wall and Cal being punched in the face by a meteor freak, before she was knocked out by some mysterious force. Please let them be ok… she prayed silently, but then she heard their voices and sighed in relief. All was not well, though. They were arguing about something, and Viola decided to keep her eyes closed for a bit longer. She heard Ellen screaming at her brother in frustration now. 

“Where the hell were you? I was calling after you for ten minutes… I couldn’t take him alone. I needed you for god’s sake. How could you leave me alone with him like that??”

“I’m so sorry Ellen, I didn’t hear you…”

“How could you not hear me!? I was literally screaming Cal. Screaming. At the top of my goddamn lungs. They probably heard me in Gotham City…”

“I...I… I’m just so sorry. I came as soon as I heard, I promise.”

“So where were you?”

“I was with Viola….”

“Where? Did you leave school?”

“Um… we were just down the corridor in the Trig classroom...”

“So how come you couldn’t hear me?”

“Eehhh…”

“Oh. My. God. Tell me you didn’t…? Why? Why would you do that? You are such an idiot. I can’t believe you.”

“I’m sorry. I will explain it to you later, I promise, ok?”

“No, this is nowhere near ok. I almost got killed. People got hurt Cal. Because you wanted some private time with your girlfriend?”

“It wasn’t like that Ellen, I didn’t mean to block you out...”

“So what happened?”

“I will tell you when we get back home, but can we please just focus on this now. I think he’s out cold. If you hold him down, I will check on Viola. The sheriff should be here any minute…”

“Ok, but I expect an explanation Cal. You gave me a hard time about getting drunk at the party, but let me tell you one thing. The urge to make out with your girlfriend sure as hell doesn’t count as an emergency either. Dad’s going to be so pissed at you…”

“Can we please just drop this for now and sort this mess out, ok?”

Viola was once more at loss. What had happened? It seemed Cal and Ellen had somehow managed not only to survive, but to take down the meteor freak between the two of them. It also seemed like Ellen had expected her brother to help her, like if he was the one and only person who could. And she was seriously mad at him for not being there. But there was something else… She was not angry with him for sneaking away, primarily. But for not hearing her scream. But how could he have? They were several corridors away, with closed doors in between. Viola had an eerie feeling, like there were dots she should be able to connect somewhere in her brain, but she couldn't. She lost the train of thoughts when she felt strong, warm arms embrace her and lift her up. She opened her eyes and peaked at Cal.

“How are you feeling Vi? Are you ok? I was so worried…” he said softly.

“I’m fine. A bit of a headache. Are you ok? I saw that guy punch you…” she eyed him suspiciously. There were traces of blood on his forehead and cheek, but no open wounds it seemed. His shirt was torn and his hair was a mess of concrete dust and dry blood.

“Blimey, you look like hell…” she gasped, and stroked his forehead gently.

He just chuckled and kissed her head. “I’m fine. He didn’t really get me. It was just a scratch, and then some debris fell on us, but we are both ok.”

When they had given their statements to the Sheriff and the people from Belle Reve had picked up the meteor infected kid, Cal insisted on driving Viola home. She thought that he and Ellen should go to the hospital to get checked out, but they refused and said they would go in the morning if their parents deemed it necessary. Viola watched the pitch dark landscape roll by. The lack of snow and light combined made the December night almost eerie. It was a bit too quiet in the car. She suspected that they were all dying to discuss something they couldn’t talk about while she was there. She knew she had promised to let them have their secrets, but this was torture. Not only did she feel left out; she was also worried about Callum. What if something was wrong, if he was hurt but couldn’t talk about it for some reason? 

“I thought there were no more meteor infected people in Smallville after the EPA cleaned up the place? At least none so young...” Viola asked, to try to get them to talk at least about the obvious things that had happened.

“Well, some people may have been infected before the clean up. And there are probably still some meteor rocks around even if it’s not as much as it used to be. That stuff was everywhere; in the ground, in the water… I can’t imagine that they have successfully gotten rid of everything.” Will explained. The twins were still not talking in the front seat.

“Lucky nobody got seriously hurt, though… I don’t understand how you guys managed to take him down when the whole school fled in panic…” she said innocently.

“Well, I think he looked scarier than he actually was…” Will started.

“And I do kick ass, you know. I don’t have a black belt in Karate for nothing…” Ellen turned her head around and gave them a wink. 

At least she seemed to be in a better mood now, but Cal was still quiet. When they arrived at Viola’s place, he got out of the car and walked her to the door.

“Do you want to come in and help you explain to your dad?”

“I don’t know if it will make things better or worse Cal. You really look like you have been in a hell of a fight… Perhaps it’s better if he doesn’t see that? And you should get home and get some rest…”

“Ok…” he shuffled his feet a bit, looking at the ground. Viola got the feeling he wanted to say something, but couldn’t pluck up the courage.

“So will I see you tomorrow? I do seem to remember having a date with my handsome boyfriend…” she smiled at him.

“Yeah… about that… I think we might have to take a rain check on the date. I have the feeling I will be grounded for, like, the rest of my life after tonight…” he looked a little crestfallen, but gave her an apologetic smile. “I will send you a text when I know how things land, ok?”

“Ok. Please do that. I don’t care about the date, really, I just want to know you are ok…” Viola took his hands in hers and kissed him gently on the lips.

“I will be fine, don’t worry…” he smiled at her. “Look, Vi… I just wanted to say that I’m sorry. I had a really great time until… you know…? And I’m sorry I messed up.”

“I had a great time too Cal. And I don’t blame you. I can honestly not see how any of this is your fault, but I get the feeling it’s one of those times when you don’t want me to ask too many questions, so I won’t…” 

“You are the best girlfriend ever, you know that right?” he whispered in her ear as he gave her a gentle embrace and stroked a strand of hair away from her face.


	5. Of anger management and cold showers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Cal fights with his father and gets grounded, although Superman kind of saves the day in the end. And Clark makes some interesting confessions about his youth...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Phew, I've read through everything that I had written now, and luckily I only really have half of two chapters left to write, and some minor editing to do on the rest. There will be quick updates, in other words. 
> 
> It's a bit slow build, and mainly focused on relationships and character building for a while longer, but we will be getting to the plot, I promise...

Cal was wrong about one thing. He wasn’t grounded for the rest of his life. Just for the rest of the month… Which was bad enough. Even worse was that his father had confiscated his Kryptonite bracelet. They had had a huge fight the morning after the dance when Clark found out that not only had Cal gotten a new power that he hadn’t told them about, but instead of concentrating on mastering that power, he had used his bracelet to turn it off so he could make out with his girlfriend while his sister got her ass kicked by a meteor freak. Cal had to admit, when you spelled it all out like that, it sounded kind of bad… But he was still furious at his father. Not only did he think that he exaggerated with the punishment; even more, it was some of the things he had said. 

_ “But if I don’t have the bracelet, I will put everyone in danger until I can control the heat vision. I honestly don’t know how that will help…” _

_ “Maybe you should not put yourself in those situations before you can control you powers…” _

_ “Ok that’s just great! What am I supposed to tell my girlfriend? That she is not allowed to do anything that can get me turned on if she doesn’t literally want to get toasted?”  _

_ “I think this conversation shows that you are not really ready for a mature relationship yet Cal. If you were, you would have put all your efforts into mastering the power instead of hiding behind blue kryptonite…” _

_ “So now you are telling me I should break up with Viola because I can’t control this stupid heat vision? Well, you can forget that. I never asked for the stupid powers. I never asked for any of this. I just want to be normal and be with the girl I love. I can’t believe you are doing this to me…”  _

That last part, Cal had screamed and punched a hole in the wall of the barn, which had gotten him grounded for an extra week. And Clark had still insisted on him handing over his bracelet until he had mastered the heat vision. Which meant no competitive football games, throwing games and tests he had to do in PE, and unfortunately, no more heavy make out sessions with his hot girlfriend. How he should explain this to her, was beyond him. He had to get a hang of this heat vision thing, and quick!

Now, Cal was in the barn, taking his anger out by punching sand sacks until his hands almost bled. Lois had given him the bracelet back for a couple of hours, to do combat training and fix the hole in the wall without super powers, which she had demanded he would do in order to learn to control his temper. She thought Clark had been a bit hard on him for the bracelet incident as she knew for a fact that he had let Ellen keep it although she had used it for getting drunk at least once. She thought Clark was really hurt that Cal hadn’t told him about the heat vision, and perhaps he was a bit scared that his boy was growing up to be an adult too. Anyway, she took a bit of mercy on Cal, and when Viola came by to bring some homework Ellen had forgotten at her place, she told her to go talk to him in the barn. Clark had grounded him, but he hadn’t really said he couldn’t have visitors, right? 

*

Viola was nervous when she drove up to the farm. Cal had texted her that he had indeed been grounded, so he couldn’t take her out tonight. He didn’t seem like he wanted to talk about it, but Viola felt she needed to at least see that he was ok. That they were ok… She didn’t really want to see Mr Kent, though. Ellen had told her that he and been the one to punish Cal and that they had been fighting all morning. She seemed to have forgotten that she had been angry with her brother the evening before, and now she only felt sorry for him. Luckily, when Viola knocked on the door of the yellow house, Lois had opened and assured her that her husband was at work, and that she could go talk to Cal in the barn if she liked.

“He’s in the barn, trying to kill some inanimate objects, I think. I have to warn you that he is in a seriously crappy mood… but perhaps you can cheer him up?”

“Hm, I don’t know if he wants to see me Mrs Lane… this is all kind of my fault, you know…” Viola said a bit crestfallen, finally putting into words what she had been pondering during some sleepless hours in the night.

“What? No… none of this is your fault honey. I promise you.”

“But he got grounded for sneaking off with me at the dance, right? And that was kind of my idea... I’m so sorry…”

“Don’t be. It’s more complicated than you may think Viola. Mostly, he got grounded for lying to his father… I know it seems a bit harsh, but he has his reasons. He normally doesn’t hold a grudge though, so don’t worry. Perhaps he will let Cal out on probation in a couple of days if he behaves…” Lois winked at the younger woman, who smiled back a bit hopeful now. 

She went out to the barn, where she indeed found Cal, fuming angry still. He was muttering under his breath as he delivered punch after punch, mixing in a few kicks as well, to the sand sacks that were hanging from the roof. His hair and his sleeveless training shirt were drenched and his biceps and neck were covered with a thin layer of sweat. Viola gulped… She had come here with the intention to talk, no ulterior motives, swear to God. But right now, she couldn’t remember what she has wanted to talk about, faced with flexing muscles and violent punches. She had never seen him so mad before, and she couldn’t help thinking that it was kind of hot. So passionate, somehow. Like, if for once, he didn’t hold anything back. That thought stirred something in her mind…  _ It’s like he’s always holding back… _ Except for last night, in the empty classroom, he hadn’t been. It was as if he was lost in passion, without thinking. His kisses had been stronger and more determined than they usually were, and his hands had felt powerful as he had squeezed her hips and her back. Usually, he was always so gentle. Not too gentle, but still. A little bit like if he was always scared to hurt her. She was ripped from her thoughts as Cal suddenly turned around and noticed her standing in the doorway.

“Viola! Hi… What are you doing here?” he said, sounding a bit surprised. And Viola was not sure it was a happy kind of surprised.

“I came over with some things Ellen forgot at my place…. But I was also hoping for a chance to talk to you…?” she suggested. “Your mom said it was ok for you to have a visitor” she added with a tentative grin when she saw the unsecure look on his face.

“Ok, sure….” he wiped his face with a towel and leaned against the wall.

“So I didn’t know you were such a fighter Cal? I thought it was Ellen who was the Karate-Kid of this family…” she smirked. 

“Oh, it is… I mean, she’s the one with all the colorful belts at least. I’ve never trained at the studio, really. But mom has trained with us since we were young, and Ellen keeps me on my toes. If I don’t keep up with her, she will beat the crap out of me…” he grinned at Viola.

“Your mom trained you in combat since you were little?” Viola repeated, incredulously. Her dad didn’t particularly like martial arts at all. She had had to beg and pout for weeks for him to let her take kickboxing classes, and he had only finally given in when one of her friends back in England had been attacked and almost raped. Then she had floored him with the argument that a girl needs to learn how to defend herself…

“Well, mom’s got a black belt in Karate too, and she always thought we should learn how to defend ourselves. She grew up as a military brat so it comes kind of natural to her to think like that. And with all the trouble she tends to get into as a reporter... I guess she sometimes forgets that normal people don't regularly get attacked by some random criminals or bad guys.” He gave her a half smile, still feeling a bit uncomfortable lying to her. Not that it was totally a lie though. His mother would probably had insisted on their combat training even if they didn’t live under the constant threat of attacks...

“So maybe I will challenge you to a match sometimes? I bet I could take you down…” Viola winked at him and punched him lightly in the chest, happy that he had seemed to lighten up a bit.

“Well, I wouldn’t be so sure…” he teased her and smiled. Viola had managed to completely wipe away his bad mood and his anger. Much more efficiently than hitting sand sacks actually. He lifted her up in his arms and pinned her to the wall with her hands above her head, kissing her passionately on the mouth. He knew he was definitely breaking his dad’s rules now, as he still had the bracelet on, but he couldn’t help himself. It might be the last time in weeks or months he actually would dare to lose himself in her kisses, depending on how long it would take him to get a hang of this stupid power. 

“You know, I’m not sure if using your sexuality to distract me would be allowed in the ring…” she panted, as they finally broke apart from the kiss. “Besides, two can play that game, you know…” she added slyly and swept his feet away, fisting his shirt to keep him from slamming too hard to the ground. She straddled him and bent down to kiss him again.

Cal didn’t really know how it had happened. He only knew that kissing the beautiful girl in his arms had made him lose his head completely, as always. But somehow he had ended up shirtless, fondling Viola on their training mat smack in the middle of the barn, with one of his hands way up under her shirt, feeling her firm breasts under his hands and the other squeezing the thigh she had wrapped around his leg. Her hands were at his behind, pressing their bodies firmly against each other, making his hardness rub against her core; both of them moaning loudly. He wanted this girl so desperately, his head was spinning. Somewhere in his brain there was this tiny voice of reason again, trying to tell him that this was a really bad idea indeed. Not only were they at risk of getting caught, but he was supposed to be telling Viola that they should take it slow. That had been the plan. He was definitely not supposed to be rushing way past second base with her in the middle of the floor…

“Incoming…” they were interrupted by Ellen’s loud voice as she came striding over the courtyard towards the barn and they jumped apart. 

“Aaargh… you’re going to be the death of me you know…” Cal groaned as he quickly stood up to put his shirt back on again.

“Hmmmpf…” she huffed back, flustered “and you should talk…” She tried to straighten her clothes and hair, but she was sure Ellen would realise exactly what they had been up to.

In fact, Ellen knew exactly what they had been up to even before. It was kind of the reason she had decided to interrupt them. She hated doing it, and she was sure Cal would be furious for her eavesdropping on them, but he would thank her later. She just couldn’t believe her stupid brother would lose his mind like this. How was he going to explain to Viola that they had to take it slow when they were all but fucking in the barn in the middle of the day? Idiot!

“Sooo...had a nice little chat, did you?” she smirked at them as she entered the barn, catching them both looking utterly embarrassed. 

“Eeh, we were just…” Viola tried to come up with something to say.

“I know what you were doing, I’m not stupid...” Ellen waved impatiently with her hand. She didn’t need any details. “But I’ve made us some tea and we can go over those notes again? And Cal, you should take a shower… a cold shower, mind you… and fix that damn hole in the wall before dad gets home…”

“You’re an idiot, you know that right?” she muttered and hit him in the head as she walked past him, dragging Viola along. 

Viola followed her gaze and saw that there was indeed a big hole in the barn wall. It looked like if someone had thrown something really heavy through it. She wondered why Cal looked so guilty. What could he possibly have done to cause a large hole in the wall?

“What happened to the wall?” she asked Ellen as they made their way into the house. 

“Oh… that. It was just some kind of accident with the...tractor.” Ellen quickly lied. Viola somehow didn’t believe her, but decided it was probably better not to show that.

*

Viola and Ellen sat in the kitchen going over their homework and drinking tea, when Cal came back in from the barn half an hour later to get a shower. As usual, Viola couldn’t keep herself from staring at him as he smiled at her and made his way through the kitchen and up the stairs. She caught a glimpse of him meeting his mother at the top of the stairs, and a weird scene played out. They were staring at each other for a while, seemingly locked in some kind of non-verbal battle. Finally, Cal seemed to cave under his mother’s stern gaze, and handed her the bracelet he was always wearing on his left arm with a sigh. She gave him a comforting pat on the shoulder and he went into the bathroom. Strange indeed… Viola once more got the feeling that there were dots that needed connecting… What was it with the bracelet?

“Hey, stop ogling my brother and concentrate…” Ellen suddenly ripped her from her thoughts, waving a hand in front of her distant face.

“Jeez, you’re almost as bad as Cal. Maybe you need a cold shower too…” Ellen smirked and rolled her eyes.

“Yeah, I could go join him, you know…” Viola grinned at her.

“No, you won’t… you are supposed to be helping me with this, remember… besides…” Ellen interrupted herself. Nope, it was not her place to get mixed up into their love life. Cal had made this bed for himself, and he had to find a way out of it... Poor bastard, she almost felt sorry for him. She just hoped Viola wouldn’t be too disappointed when he told her that they needed to take a step back.

“Besides, what?” Viola asked curiously.

“I don’t know. I just don’t think the two of you should rush things. That’s all…”

“God, why is everybody so uptight about us? We are both adults, right? And we have been really close for months, even if we haven’t exactly been dating that long… And I…. I’m really in love with him, you know?” Viola sighed, as she stopped blurting out her frustration. She just didn’t get what the problem was… Ellen had always been supportive of their relationship before. Something had definitely changed. Had Cal said something? Maybe he didn’t feel the same way about her, and Ellen tried to warn her? She felt her stomach drop and a cold feeling of fear spread through her body.

“You don’t think he feels that way about me, do you?” she said quietly without meeting Ellen’s eyes. 

Ellen sighed inwardly. So much for not getting involved… but she couldn’t let her poor friend suffer like this either. Perhaps it was better if she gave her a bit of a heads up? 

“Don’t worry Vi. He’s crazy about you, any idiot with eyes can see that…”

“So what’s the problem? It’s your dad, right? He doesn’t think I’m good enough for his son, does he?”

“No… don’t worry about dad either. I mean… I know he is a bit reserved, but it’s not about you. He likes you, you know. But he has a hard time relaxing around people he doesn’t know so well… He just.... doesn’t think Cal’s ready for that kind of deep commitment yet. So he told him he should take a step back with you. That was part of what they were arguing about this morning.”

“What? I can’t believe he thinks he can tell us what to do with our love life!? Cal’s an adult too, you know. Technically, at least…” she half smiled. Cal and Viola were both eighteen although they were still in their senior year of High School. Viola had actually had to redo one year of school when she was living in Germany and the school system didn’t match up with the English one where she had started. And Cal and Ellen had started a year late since they had needed to be able to control their powers better before Lois and Clark would dare let them go. Now Viola felt the anger building up. Was his family, or rather his father, going to stand in the way of the relationship of two almost grown ups, because of...what? She didn’t even know why. Unbelievable.

“Yeah, but he’s still living in this house… And the thing is… Oh, god, I don’t know how to explain this. Why do I always get mixed up in his affairs…” Ellen was muttering half to herself now, before she sighed and continued.

“Look… Without saying too much, he has something he needs to take care of before he can commit seriously to any kind of relationship. Something that needs his undivided attention. And you might say he has kind of been neglecting his duties since you got together…” she winked at Viola now, hoping she would buy this half hearted explanation.

“So it has something to do with whatever it is you can’t tell me about?” Viola asked, but it was more of a statement than a question, really. This secrecy was becoming really, really frustrating. But she was relieved that it didn’t seem like Cal was pulling away from her voluntarily. 

“Exactly” Ellen was glad she was catching on. 

“Hmpf… do you know how frustrating this is? I know I promised I could keep my nose out of it, but honestly I feel like I’m going crazy sometimes. And now, on top of it all, you’re telling me this thing is keeping me from getting any from my incredibly hot boyfriend?” she huffed. “I’m sorry… I know he’s your brother… but you can see my point, right?”

Ellen laughed. Yeah, she could see her point…

“Just have a bit of patience, I’m sure he will sort this out soon…”

“Patience… not really my strong suit…” Viola muttered. 

*

Even if their date was cancelled, and their make-out session was interrupted, the afternoon turned out not to be a total waste, after all. Cal joined the girls in the kitchen to do his homework. Lois had been gone shopping for groceries, and when she came back, she asked if Viola wanted to stay for dinner. 

“Are you sure that would be ok with Mr Kent?” she asked, feeling a bit insecure. She really wanted to get to know Cal’s family better. But she also feared the evening would be spent in awkward silence, since Cal’s dad was a bit reserved at the best of times, and now he was in a fight with his son - about her, no less.

“Oh, it turns out Mr Kent won’t make it home tonight...!” Lois said with a wink at Viola, and just a hint of bitterness hidden in her voice. 

“What happened?” Viola asked, and she also felt the twins looking curiously at their mother.

“Just an emergency at work.” Lois lied easily. She had a great poker face, and years of practice on top of that. “There has been a major earthquake somewhere in China and Clark was assigned to cover it for the Planet. He will probably be gone all night…”

The twins sighed silently with relief. As tragic as a big earthquake probably was, at least it wasn’t something that would put Superman in danger…

“I would love to stay… But I’m a vegetarian and I don’t want to cause you any extra trouble Mrs Lane...” 

“Oh, you won’t cause me any trouble at all, I assure you. You see, I don’t cook…” she smiled a twisted smile.

“So who’s cooking?” Viola asked.

“If dad isn't home, that would probably be me” Cal answered with a grin “That is, unless you want to get food poisoning from eating anything Ellen tries to cook…”

“Great, I can help you out then. I’ll just call my dad and tell him I won’t be home for dinner…” Viola smiled happily. 

*

Working together with Cal in the kitchen somehow came natural. They talked, laughed, took turns cutting up vegetables and stirring the pasta sauce they were making, and she even stole a couple of kisses here and there, when the others weren’t looking. Ellen helped set the table, but other than that, she seemed to want to give the two of them some privacy and headed upstairs to “clean her room”. Viola seriously doubted that she would actually do any cleaning though; if so, it would probably be the first time in the history of the family Lane-Kent… but she was grateful for the chance to be alone with Cal anyway. 

“You know, I think this is the best non-date I’ve ever been on” she joked and embraced him as their dinner was almost done.

“Yeah, I agree... “ he smiled back and kissed her gently on the mouth. “I kind of hope dad has to work a lot the coming weeks so you can come by the house while I’m grounded…” 

“You don’t think he would let me to visit you?”

“I don’t know… I mean, we had this huge fight this morning, but perhaps he will cool down in a couple of days…” he gave her a faint smile.

“I’m sorry…”

“It’s not your fault Vi… What happened yesterday was just the tip of the iceberg, so to speak… I did something… kind of reckless…”

“So you’re not mad at me…?”

“No... God. Why would you think that?”

“I don’t know… for trying to seduce you?” She smiled at him tentatively and raised an eyebrow.

“I don’t think you can take full credit for that, I was not a very unwilling victim…” he gave her a wink and cupped her face with his hand. “But there’s something I really need to talk to you about…” he started, but at that exact moment, the timer beeped to tell them that the pasta was ready. “Later…” he whispered in her ear and kissed her again, softly. 

*

“So what are you doing for Christmas?” Lois asked Viola between bites of spaghetti. 

“My brother is actually coming over from Europe, so we are mostly staying in Smallville. We might take a short ski trip if we can get last minute tickets out of here, or go hiking….” she answered.

“Hiking in the middle of winter?” Cal asked, suspiciously.

“Yeah, a bit of snow never stopped my family from being outdoors… My father grew up in Sweden, you know. And my brother is currently a mountain guide in the Swiss Alps….”

“Does your whole family ski?” Ellen asked.

“Yeah, we went almost every winter when we lived in Europe… I actually prefer snowboard, but I can get downhill on a pair of carving skis as well…”

“Cool, I wish we could do that sometimes…” Ellen said.

“Maybe we can go visit aunt Lucy in winter?” Cal suggested. “Our aunt lives in Germany and she likes skiing” he explained to Viola.

“Well, nothing’s impossible you know…” Lois said. “It would sure be fun to see Clark trying to ski…” she smirked.

“Can  _ you  _ ski, mom?” Cal raised his eyebrows.

“Well, I used to a bit when I was younger, but it was many years ago…”

“Oh, but I hear it’s like riding a bike. Once you know how to do it, you never forget…” Viola smiled.

“What are you guys doing?” Viola asked. Are you going away or staying in Smallville?

“We are having a little dinner party on Christmas eve, and I will go visit my cousin in Star City with Clark for a couple of days, while her sons stay here with Cal and Ellen.”

“If you are in Smallville then, perhaps you can come and meet our cousins…” Ellen suggested, and Cal held his breath, waiting for his mothers doom. 

“That would be ok I guess. But remember what we talked about; no big parties... And no sleepovers…” she added with a pointed look at Cal. “Remember that you’re technically still grounded…”

“Hmmpf…” he muttered, but he was really glad that his mother had said ok to Viola visiting. He really prayed she would be home then, it would mean two whole days of parent free time with her…

“It hope we will get to meet your brother too” Ellen said. “I’ve heard so much about him...”

“So you said he was a mountain guide?” Lois asked Viola.

“Yeah… among other things... “ she said, a bit uncertain how much she should give away.

“Are you two much alike?” Lois asked

Viola snorted with laughter. “Nope, not really… sometimes I can’t believe we’re actually related… I love him though, he is my brother after all…”

“But you both like hiking and skiing, right?” 

“Yes, but that’s about it when it comes to similarities. And where I love the adventure part of it, he likes to… hmmm. What does he always say? Enjoy the beauty of nature?” 

“So he doesn’t really have your.... spirited ... temperament, then?” Ellen asked innocently.

“Not really. He’s more of the yoga type. He actually spent a whole year in a monastery in Tibet after mom died. He can sit in meditation for hours while I do my best to annoy him, and he doesn’t even have the decency to get upset.”

“Wow, sounds like a real Ghandi type…” Cal said, feeling a bit insecure. What would Viola’s brother think of him? He who obviously couldn’t even keep his focus for more than three seconds when a beautiful girl batted her eyelashes at him. At least if that girl was Viola...

“I don’t know. He used to play in a rock band as well, so I guess he’s got some different sides to him…” she grinned.

*

Later that evening, Cal had managed to sneak him and Viola up to his room, and they lay tangled on his bed. Cal nuzzled into her neck and beautiful auburn hair. It smelled like cherry and vanilla, and he sighed happily while he stroked back a few locks that fell into her face. He just wanted to stay like that forever, but he knew they had things to talk about. It wasn’t a conversation he particularly looked forward to. Nope. On the contrary… he had absolutely no idea how to bring it up. It was one thing to tell your girlfriend you wanted to take it slow, and something completely different to explain why you suddenly wanted to go backwards…

“So, you wanted to talk about something…?” Viola asked him. She sort of suspected what it was all about, after all, Ellen had more or less explained it already. But she wanted to hear what Cal had to say about it.

“Yeah… but you did too, right? When you came to the barn this afternoon?”

“Oh, well. That was nothing. I just wanted to know if you were angry with me, but I guess we already covered that… So what did you want to talk about?”

“Well… you know this big fight I had with my dad this morning? It was kind of about us… Or, more about me really.”

“He doesn’t want you to see me anymore?”

“It’s not that he doesn't like you. He just thinks we are moving too quickly.”

“So… what do you think? Do you agree with him?”

“I don’t know… I don’t want to agree with him. But it’s complicated. I have… something I need to take care of. And I…I can’t afford to lose focus.”

“And you are saying that being with me makes you do that?”

“Well, you tend to find ways to distract me…” he smiled at her “In a good way though, mostly…”

“So this is not like what happened with your last girlfriend? The reason you did not want to be intimate with her?”

“No, jeez Vi… how can you think that? I didn’t _ want  _ to be together with her like that. I promise. With you… I mean… I really, really want to. I hope you know that?”

“It seems like that sometimes…” she smiled back at him. She hated herself for being so insecure and fishing for him reassuring her. But even though Ellen had already explained, it was hard to accept the secrets. And she just couldn’t understand how them making out, or having sex even, would keep him from whatever mission he was on.

“It’s just… I can’t…” Cal continued.

“You can’t be together with me…? At all?”

“Not like that… intimately. At the moment. Not going all the way, if you know what I mean. We may have gone a bit too far already…”

“But we could still go out? And kiss and stuff?”

“Yeah. If you’re ok with that? I don’t want to lose you Vi…” 

“So can’t we… ever…? You know?” 

“Some day, I hope, yes. I just need to... solve a problem first. And prove I can handle it…” 

“But are we talking about like, a month, or are we talking five years…?” 

“Hopefully we’re talking weeks… I don’t really know. But I would have to kill myself if it would take years…” he joked.

“Don’t do that… please…” she smiled at him. “So what’s the limit…? I can still kiss you, right?”

“Definitely” he said and kissed her gently on the lips. “But it’s more about how well I can stay in control than about some definite limit. Like I said, I can’t afford to get too distracted…”

“So I could help you practice, right? You tell me when you get distracted, and I will back off?”

“You’re cute…” he kissed her on the nose. “You sure you’re ok with this…?”

“I guess… I will probably spontaneously combust from sexual frustration, but I promised you before I would respect your weirdness, no questions asked… Even if I have a real problem piecing this together...” 

“You know you’re just too good to be true sometimes, right? 

“I know. I fully expect you to make it up to me once this stupid ban is lifted though…” 

“Oh, I promise you I will…” he said and claimed her lips again in a sweet, sensual kiss. 

*

It was quite late when Viola decided it was time to go home, or she would fall asleep behind the wheel. Cal had fallen asleep on top of his bed, still fully clothed. He looked so cute, she didn’t want to wake him up. She had been lying beside him for a while, just watching him sleep and gently tracing a finger over his lips, eyebrows and cheeks. When she finally got up, the house was almost dark. She tiptoed carefully down the stairs, not wanting to wake anybody. When she came down, she saw that the TV was on in the living room though. She went in, wanting to say goodbye to Lois, but she found her asleep on the couch, with a glass of wine and a laptop in front of her on the table. The news program she had on showed pictures from the earthquake in China, and Superman flying around lifting parts of buildings and vehicles up so that the rescue workers could get to people. Viola shot a quick glance at the screen of Lois’ computer. She was working on a story. “Earthquake devastates the outskirts of Shanghai - by Clark Kent”.

_ That’s odd _ , she thought.  _ Why is she writing her husband’s story? And where is he if he isn’t working on it? She’s evidently covering for him somehow… _

When she came home, she filed tonight’s events in the “Lane-Kent mystery department” of her brain. Mr Kent was on some sort of secret mission, but it hadn’t been planned as it seemed. Ellen and Cal had looked curious when Lois explained where he had gone off to. Had she told them the truth, or did they think he was working on the story? They had seemed to accept her explanation though. And what was the thing that Cal had to take care of? She really didn’t think it was some secret mission. If so, why would the specific act of them making out or having sex disturb that? Why did he have to focus all the time? She had some vague feeling that it had something to do with his bracelet. Both he and Ellen always had them on, but now he had given his up. Unwillingly, it seemed. Maybe as a punishment for what had happened. Or a test? What if he had some kind of condition, or disease, and the bracelet helped him regulate it. Or a meteor power… That idea was intriguing indeed. She had heard the stories about the meteor infected, and that they could develop all kinds of powers. Most of them had gone crazy though. What if he had a power, and the bracelet helped him control it? But why did they take the bracelet away if that was the case? And how was it connected to their relationship? Perhaps it was something hormonal? Could it be dangerous for him to get an endorphin surge or something? Did it trigger the condition or the power or whatever it was? She banged her head against her pillow. She had promised not to dig into this, but it was just impossible not to think about it at all… She fell asleep with all the theories still swirling around in her mind.

*

Cal woke up and found himself sleeping with his clothes on, floating a few feet above the bed again. This time, he actually managed to land gently on the bed though, which was an improvement indeed. All the other times it had happened he had more or less crashed down on the bed or on the floor. He went down into the kitchen, but nobody seemed to be up yet. Then he saw his mother sitting in the living room, and when she made a sign for him to be quiet, he peeked over her shoulder and saw that his dad was asleep on the couch with his head in her lap. She was stroking him gently over the hair. Cal asked Lois if she wanted coffee, without using words, and she gave him a grateful nod. He made coffee for his mom and breakfast for himself, and sat down in the kitchen to read. He knew that what his dad needed after a night full of terror and death was his wife’s gentle embrace. She somehow always managed to give him strength, and to help him think about all the lives he had saved, instead of the lives he couldn’t save. 

Most people would probably think that the physical pain of fighting, the fear of dying, or the constant lack of free time and privacy were the worst parts of the life of a superhero. But Cal knew better. It was the pain of losing a life that was the worst and especially in situations where you couldn’t be everywhere, but had to choose which building to save from crashing down, or which car falling off a collapsing bridge you had to sacrifice. Superman probably had a long night of tough choices behind him… Cal’s anger with his dad from the day before quickly drained away, and when Clark finally woke up and made his way into the kitchen, he gave his dad a hug.

“Hey, dad. How are you holding up? Rough night, huh…?”

“Yeah, I’m ok though son. I’ve seen worse…” 

“Bet you have… So blueberry pancakes or scrambled eggs?”

“Can I have both?” Clark gave his son a fond smile. In the light of everything he had seen that night, his fight with Cal the previous morning seemed pretty stupid. One might think that he would have already gained perspective from all he had been through over the years. But perspective, it turns out, is a highly perishable resource and needs to be gained over and over. 

They ate breakfast in silence for a while, both men thinking they should probably apologise, but being a bit too ashamed to actually do it. 

“So I heard Viola was here yesterday?” Clark finally said, trying to find his way towards the subject somehow.

“Yeah. She helped me cook dinner. Hope it was ok with you?” Cal asked, a bit insecure. He hoped for his father’s forgiveness. He usually melted a bit after big fights or natural disasters, but you never knew...

“Yeah, sure. I didn’t mean you can’t see her at all, you know…” Clark tried tentatively.

“Look, dad. I’m really sorry I lost my temper yesterday… You were right to punish me. I was being an idiot…” Cal confessed honestly.

“It’s ok, Cal. I was being a bit hard on you, I know… To tell you the truth, I would probably have done exactly the same thing if I had known about blue Kryptonite when I was your age…” he grinned sheepishly. “But I do think it is better you at least learn to control your powers first, then you can decide if you want to use the bracelet from time to time, to… eh… completely let go of all need for control...” 

“You do that?” Cal raised his eyebrows.

“Well, I have many years of experience with controlling my powers… I almost don’t have to think about it anymore. But still. I admit it can sometimes be nice to be able to really… exhaust yourself… no holding back… eh, you know?” he blushed a bit at this confession.

“You’re talking about things like sports and hard work at the farm now, right?” Cal said with a smirk, trying to lighten the moment.

“Yeah, right… what else?” Clark grinned. “So what do you say we go out in the barn and I’ll help you practice your heat vision after I’ve had a shower, huh?”

*

Cal was making some real progress with focusing his heat vision. He could light nine out of the ten candles his dad had put on the workbench in the barn without completely melting them down. It had only taken a couple of hours of practice and not more than two major accidents that required Clark using his arctic breath to put out the fires. A couple of days of practise longer, and he would be in complete control of using the power. The only thing that worried him was that he still didn’t feel like he knew how to turn it off when he involuntarily got too turned on or wrapped up in thoughts of sex. It was kind of a hard thing to practice, and not something he would like very much to share with his dad… He saved those sessions for when he was alone in the shower, letting his fantasy loose… So far it was about fifty-fifty the times he managed to fight back the burning sensation in his eyes as he came, half of the time he produced some serious steam from boiling the water in the shower. And that was just him by himself. Somehow, he had the feeling it would be even harder to keep his focus if Viola would actually be there in the flesh and not just in his mind. 

“Ehh, dad… can I ask you something?” He shuffled his feet a bit uncomfortably on the ground. He knew his mom had always said  _ If you are old enough to do it you are old enough to talk about it…  _ when he had tried to get out of  _ The Talk _ a couple of years earlier. But he had the feeling that the degree of embarrassment when talking about sex wasn’t just related to age. Ellen had had no problems asking her parents questions years ago. And he knew his dad was almost as uncomfortable as he was.

“Sure…Cal. What is it?”

“So, do you also think about, you know… sex… to trigger your heat vision?”

“Oh… Eh, no not really. Once you get used to the power, you will be able to control it without using any triggers.”

“So you never...accidentally… when you… ehh…”  _ God, this is awkward... _

“No, it has been many years since I had that kind of… problem.”

“But you used to?” Cal smiled curiously. He almost couldn’t imagine his always-in-control dad being an insecure teenager at some point in his life.

Clark chuckled. This was a story he had never told his kids, and not one he was proud of. But still, it would probably help his son with his insecurities if he knew that not even Superman had been born in control of his powers…

“I got my heat vision a bit earlier than you Cal. So by the time I actually had a real, physical, relationship, I was already in full control of it. But I could tell you about when I first discovered the power… It’s not a pretty story…”

“What happened?”

“Well, I think I must have been fifteen or sixteen. We were watching a eeh… sex ed movie in Biology class and there was this really hot…girl… Well, anyway, I set the classroom on fire…” He grinned sheepishly at his son. Clark had modified the story a tiny bit, but he really didn’t want to confess that the hot “girl” had actually been his new teacher...

Cal roared with laughter. This was just too good to be true. “Seriously?”

“Yeah… and then I helped put out the fire and was celebrated as a hero. Only nobody else knew I had been the one to actually start it in the first place…”

“That’s hilarious dad… But seriously. So your powers never gave you any problems with… relationships?”

“Actually, they did… I broke up with my first girlfriend because I couldn’t tell her about me. The thing was that when we first got together for real, Jor El had taken my powers and I was human for a while. But then he had to give them back to save my life, and I was back to lying and pulling away from her, not being able to be… intimate... anymore, since I was scared of hurting her with my strength… and it didn’t work out.”

“But then you know exactly how I feel with Viola?”

“Yes, I do, actually. But I also know that there was a reason I didn’t tell Lana about me. And that it didn’t work out between us, not even later when she found out. I thought I loved her, but after I met your mother I realized that love shouldn’t be that hard. And that’s why I don’t want you to rush into this relationship either. I don’t know if your are old enough to be able to tell a teenage crush from the real deal…”

Cal considered this for a while. He could see his father’s point, but still. From what little he had heard about his dad’s childhood crush, he didn’t think it sounded at all like what he had with Viola. 

“But do you really think it’s fair to assume that just because it didn’t work out for you and your first girlfriend, my relationship with Viola is also doomed? I mean, I have had girlfriends before, but I never felt like this about anyone before. Not even close… I love her dad, I really do. And I trust her completely… I know that we are young, but right now, I can’t imagine ever being with anyone else.”

Clark felt a bit bad for Cal. Maybe he had actually been judging his relationship in the light of his own failed teenage romance? He had to admit that things had been different with Lana; he had been in love with her since he was like five, and deep down he suspected that the real reason it didn’t work out was that once they got together, he realized that the reality didn’t exactly match his dreams. And it was true that Viola was very little like Lana had been. She had accepted the fact that Cal was hiding things from her without digging into it, or putting pressure on him, as far as Clark knew anyway. Kind of like Lois had done for him once…

“Perhaps you are right son. But you should still practice controlling your powers without the blue k. And when you can, I’m not going to stand in the way of your being with her in any way you want to… If it turns out to be a mistake, then I guess it’s your mistake to make. But I would still feel better if we could get to know her a bit more before letting her in on any family secrets…”

“Thanks dad… I’m glad we talked about this. But I’m still grounded, right?” Cal said, feeling relieved but still a bit down about not being able to see Viola much for the coming weeks.

“Hm, I do feel a bit bad for grounding you over Christmas break… What do you say we make a deal? If you come straight home after school for the last week before the break and spend some time each afternoon practicing your powers and you make one weekend extra practice in the Fortress in the coming month, you are free to do what you want with your free time over the holidays, ok?” his father suggested.

Cal smiled appreciatively and gave him a small nod as a thank you. This was a deal he was happy to accept, it meant he would be able to spend time with Viola when she was home on break. And he could finally take her out on their date. 


	6. Christmas party extravaganza

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which there is indeed a Christmas party, and a lot of introductions are made...

When Viola opened the curtains on Christmas eve morning, she felt an almost childish joy bubbling inside of her at the sight of big, fluffy snowflakes, falling down outside. There had not been any snow so far in December, and she had started to prepare herself for a muddy brown Christmas, which wasn’t a very pleasing thought. True, she had been through those before as England wasn’t a country blessed with the most fairytale like weather. Unless the fairy tale was about endless amounts of rain and fog. 

Since her mother died, she hadn’t spent any Christmases in England though. The first two years, they had been visiting her grandparents in the northern Sweden, where meter thick snow was almost a guarantee in December, and the following two years they had spent in the Alps where Sebastian had settled down to work as a mountain guide. This would be their first Christmas in their own home since the accident, and Viola wanted to create some new traditions for their little family of two. Or three, at least temporarily, since her brother was visiting over the holidays. 

Since none of the family members were big fans of traditions anyway, and since they had lived in different parts of Europe, and now the US, with different traditions they decided to just pick the elements they liked best from each place and mix them up into their own cultural mesh. Viola had invited Cal over to meet her brother for afternoon tea, which today was, to be honest, more like afternoon glühwine accompanied by a mix of German and Swedish traditional Christmas pastries her dad had made. Later she would come back with him to his place to meet some of his relatives and friends for dinner. She was really nervous about this since she knew, although it hadn’t really been spoken out loud, that her getting to know more of their family was the first step of being let in on their little secret. She wouldn’t stay the whole evening though. Partly because she didn’t want to miss out on too much time with her brother, and partly because she had discretely been told by Cal that there were matters that needed to be discussed within the family only. She would ride home with Will later, who was also coming over for part of the evening only.

She had asked Ellen about the dress code for the party later, and she had been assured it was casual. She wasn’t much for wearing fancy dresses if it wasn’t necessary so she didn’t own that many. Cal had forbidden her to wear the green dress from Christmas Formal, claiming that he wouldn’t dare to kiss her if she did, out of fear of losing his focus. She had only laughed at him and offered to let him come and practice meditation with her brother if he needed to practice his concentration. It was meant as a joke, but Cal had actually been interested, which Viola thought would make her brother happy. Viola smiled at the memory as she put her last hand to her makeup and hair. Usually, she didn’t make such an effort, but it was Christmas, after all. And she wanted to make a good impression on Cal’s family. She had found a pair of more dressy black pants in the back of her closet, under a heap of worn jeans, and a green blouse that she thought would match the Christmas decorations. She also found a pair of earrings with little Christmas trees, which probably were more funny than pretty, and she had just finished putting them in her ears when the doorbell rang downstairs.

Callum had been a bit nervous too about meeting Sebastian, whom he had heard a whole lot about. He knew Viola really admired her big brother, and he wanted to make a good first impression, but he didn’t really know how to talk to a yoga practicing mountain guide. It’s not like they could small talk about football… Once he was introduced to Sebastian, he instantly relaxed though. He was a bit different, as expected, but not judgmental or difficult to talk to at all at all. On the contrary, he was easy going and open and had a really clever sense of humor. He didn’t talk quite as much as Viola, but just as she did, he seemed to speak his mind freely without much considerations about what was appropriate or not. Cal had tried to imagine what a crossover between a Tibetan monk and someone living on a mountain would look like, but he had come up with nothing. And Sebastian didn’t look much like any of those two stereotypes. It was easy to see that he was related to both Viola and Sven, as he looked a bit like a mix between the two. His long hair, tied back in a ponytail, was lighter and redder than Viola’s and he had the same fair skin, but with more freckles. His eyes were more of a greyish color, and he was tall like his father, who was built like a true stereotype of a Scandinavian Viking, but not as broad shouldered. He had the same radiant, almost contagious, smile that Viola did, which would probably have been enough to make Cal like him anyway.

At first, Cal felt a bit uncomfortable that Viola didn’t seem to mind any PDA in front of her dad and brother. First, she insisted on kissing him rather passionately under a mistletoe that hung in the hallway, which made Cal blush violently, and when they sat down in front of the fire in the living room, she curled up with her mug of steaming gluhwein beside him on the couch and leaned her head on his shoulder. He knew all too well how overprotective big brothers and fathers of teenage girls could be, and he was very careful not to touch her in any way that might seem suspicious. Nobody seemed to care much about the fact that Viola couldn’t seem to keep her hands to herself though, and after a while he relaxed a bit and intertwined his fingers with hers. On the whole, everything went very smoothly, at least until Cal asked Sebastian about his meditation practice, upon which Viola decided to embarrass him with her unabashed insinuations about their love life.

“So Sebastian, maybe you could help Cal out with a few meditation tips? He sometimes has problems keeping his emotions in check and staying focused…” she winked at Cal with a wry smile. 

Cal felt like he wished a hole would open up in the ground and swallow him. What she was saying could only be interpreted as him either having anger management problems, or trouble keeping his head cool in the bedroom. The latter being kind of true of course, but it was nothing he needed Viola’s brother to know about. 

“...you know, like when you play football and need to keep all distractions out…?” she continued with a smirk at Cal which fooled nobody, but at least it gave him a way out by pretending it did. 

Cal shot her a menacing glance, letting her know that she was going to pay for this later, while he tried to compose himself and play along.

“Yep, our coach always goes on about the importance of mental training, but I don’t think he really knows much about it himself because he never actually showed us how to do it…” Cal said, in what he hoped was a casual tone. Luckily, Viola’s brother was a much nicer person than she was, at least that was what Cal thought at the moment, and he pretended he bought the lame cover up.

“Sure, no problem. I’d be happy to help. I can’t say I know much about American football, but I guess the basic techniques of mindfulness are the same whatever the application” Sebastian said thoughtfully.

“But isn’t it hard to learn? Can anyone do it?” Cal asked curiously. His prejudice was that people who meditated wore orange robes and sat chanting together on the floor in rooms full of scented candles at four o'clock in the morning.

“The techniques are easy enough to learn within hours, yet they take a lifetime to master…” Sebastian answered a bit cryptically. “But anyone can learn the basics; it doesn’t require any particular location or equipment…” he continued, almost as if he had been able to read Cal’s mind. 

“Sounds good enough to me, I’d be happy to give it a try sometimes…” Cal said.

“Good. Then I’ll be happy to show you… We better make it a day when Viola isn’t around though, or she’ll do her best to try to make you lose your concentration…” Sebastian smiled.

“Oh dear brother... How dare you insinuate I would ever stoop to such lowly behavior…” she said in a would-be insulted voice and slapped the back of her hand to her forehead in a faux faint.

*

With an hour left before Viola and Cal had to be on their way to the Christmas party, Sven and Sebastian suddenly announced that they had some last minute errands to run, and they wished Cal a Happy Christmas once more and left the house. Cal was quite sure that Viola had convinced them to leave the house so they could have some time alone, which he was both grateful and a bit nervous about. It was the first time they had really been alone for more than ten minutes since he had lost his bracelet and he suspected that his girlfriend hadn’t sent her family away so they could play Scrabble.

Sure enough, Viola crept up in his lap, whispered “Finally alone…” and kissed him. Cal indulged for a couple of minutes in the blissful feeling of just being there with her, legs and arms tangled together on the couch. But after a while, her kisses grew more passionate and deeper, and he felt his own desire grow dangerously hot, so he pulled away for a bit.

“Just give me a moment…” he panted, but held her close still.

“Not losing your focus already now, are you? I’m hardly touching you...” she said with a teasing smile.

“Sorry… I guess you should take it as a compliment… I obviously can’t be alone with you without letting my thoughts wander in dangerous directions…” he smiled back.

“Hm… I hope you take Sebastian up on his offer to help you practice soon, because this is torture you know…” she muttered, but looked rather pleased with herself.

“Yeah, thanks for outing me like that by the way… I thought I was going to die of embarrassment…” Cal said with a frown.

“Hey, stop being so prude… As I told you, nobody in this house thinks it is weird that people who are dating are actually involved in a physical relationship. As a matter of fact, I think it is safe to assume that they think we are having sex right now. If they knew how slow we are going, they would be surprised…” she scoffed. 

“Oh, I’m sorry if I am disappointing your family by not jumping you at the first possible occasion…” he said with a sarcastic tone. He was joking, but he was also feeling a bit stressed out about this. He really hoped she wouldn’t put too much pressure on him to move further. It was enough that he had to fight his own desires; disappointing Viola was not something he wanted to do.

“You know I’m just kidding, right? I just want to be with you Cal, I don’t care how… I’ll make do with snogging for now, even if it’s driving me crazy sometimes. But you should take it as a compliment as well, you know. It’s not like I’m always all over any guy I go out with; I just really, really happen to like you. And I also think you are hot as hell… But that’s not a bad thing, right?”

“Nope, definitely not a bad thing…” he grinned at her. “You know this is horribly frustrating for me as well, right? I can’t wait until I have sorted this….thing… out so I can be close to you without having to worry about anything…”

“Good… so you’ll practice with Sebastian another day. Right now, you can practice with me… It could be fun, you know… You just try to relax, and I’ll see how much it takes to make you lose your concentration…” she said and smiled a seductive smile at him, before she straddled him and bent down to kiss him again. 

To his delight, Cal found that it actually was getting easier to keep his focus with a bit of practice. At first, he almost lost it just from kissing her a bit too deeply. After half an hour, they made it to second base before he had to pull away and breathe for a while with his eyes closed. It was a bit frustrating, to say the least, but he was still glad that it gave them a reason not to rush things. He didn’t know if he had been ready for the commitment of being totally intimate with her even if he had still had the option of using blue k. Part of him wanted her to know him completely first, but he also didn’t know how long that would take, and he suspected she would get impatient sooner or later. For now, it gave him a reason to postpone the decision, which he was happy about. 

*

As the truck was making its way through the snowy roads, Viola was telling Cal stories of all the different Christmas traditions they had decided to take up this year in the new house. Not that she was sure he was all that interested, but she had to talk about something in order not to get too nervous about to prospect of meeting his extended family for the first time. For the last hour, she had been distracted by them making out on the couch, and she was still feeling a bit hot and bothered from the continued unfulfilled sexual tension between them. She reckoned this must be some kind of world record as far as foreplay went, and while she wanted to be understanding and patient it was slowly driving her nuts. 

Not that she wasn’t happy about just being with him, kissing him, feeling his warm body against hers… Indulging in his sweet scent and enjoying his hands stroking her… it was wonderful. But it left her with a deep craving for more, and it wasn’t just physical attraction, no. If it had been, she could have been at least temporarily satisfied by pleasing herself from time to time. But she wanted him, needed him, to be closer. She wanted more. She wanted to wake up next to him in the morning, she wanted there to be no more secrets between them. She wanted to give herself to him completely, both body and soul. And this was scaring the daylights out of her. They had only been going out six weeks officially, and although she was only eighteen, she wouldn’t have hesitated to fling herself in his arms and scream “yes” if he had asked her to marry him. This was crazy… And now she would be introduced to, as far as she understood, almost everyone of his close friends and family, which made her freak even more. But she decided to push her fears away and just go with it for now. It wasn’t as if he had actually asked her to marry him… Even if he did tell her his secret, it didn’t necessarily mean a lifetime commitment, right?

Viola was ripped from her thoughts as they pulled up to the house and climbed out of the car, only to be greeted by a very enthusiastic Ellen who hugged Viola and dragged them both inside. The house was warm and welcoming and Viola was almost overwhelmed by the strong smell of ginger bread cookies and mulled wine that met them as soon as they stepped inside the door. Ellen pressed a tiara in the form of reindeer antlers with little red ribbons on Cal’s head, claiming he wasn’t sporting the right holiday look in his midnight blue shirt and black slacks. Ellen herself was wearing a bright red knitted jumper with a snowman on, holly and jingle bell earrings dangling from her ears, tinsel in her hair and a big smile on her face. From the look of it, Viola guessed Ellen had been in charge of the decorating team. The yellow farmhouse was overloaded with fairy lights, holly, mistletoe and various ornaments from the floor to the ceiling and the branches of the huge Christmas tree were barely visible under the heavy layers of tinsel. It wasn’t exactly classy, Viola thought and laughed to herself, but at least nothing was lacking. To be honest she was a bit surprised; she wouldn’t have guessed that either of the Lane-Kents were crazy Christmas fanatics. But on the other hand, the way she knew Ellen, she was an all-or-nothing kind of person; which meant that either it would have been “screw Christmas” or this, so she guessed that it would have been a fifty-fifty chance if she had really thought about it. 

“Yeah, Ellen doesn’t really do moderation…” Cal smiled at the look on Violas face as he took her by the hand and towed her inside.

“Oh, well. It’s very… Christmasy…” Viola laughed.

“That’s one way to put it…” Cal smirked.

“I just feel sorry for all the other families out there who didn’t get any decorations this year since you guys seem to have cleaned out all the stores…” 

The party was already loud and merry when they got inside, and the familiar tunes of “Let it snow” were just audible through the buzz of voices coming from the living room. Viola was introduced to a large number of people, which all seemed very friendly. She noticed that apart from their relatives and a couple of colleagues from the Daily Planet, she was never really told how the people she met actually knew the Lane-Kents, and she was surprised to notice that there were some quite prominent citizens at the party. Like the notorious billionaire of Gotham City, Bruce Wayne. What the heck was he doing at a private party at a farm in Smallville, hosted by two journalists? It wasn’t the kind of social event she imagined he usually frequented...

And she was also astounded to realize that the uncle who had given Cal all the expensive tech stuff was actually none other than Oliver Queen himself. She felt a bit out of place around the rich people, and was really nervous about being introduced to the Queens at first, but Mr Queen wasn’t that intimidating at all it turned out. On the contrary, he was both friendly and really funny. Viola also really liked his wife, Chloe, who was not only Lois’ cousin but Clark’s best friend ever since he was in high school, she was told. She understood that the two families were really close, even though the Sullivan-Queen family lived in Star City. But Viola guessed that owning a private jet made it possible for them to visit more often than they would otherwise have done. Their two sons, Jonathan and Leonard, who preferred to be called Leo, were the only two other teenagers at the party; or at least Leo was their age. Viola got the impression that Jonathan was at least a couple of years older, and he was already at the university, but she never really asked for his age. Viola liked them instantly though, they were both easy to talk to and seemed uncomplicated enough even though they lived in a completely different reality in one way. They were both drinking beer although Viola didn’t think that either of them were officially of age yet, at least not in Kansas. True, she sometimes had a glass of wine at home with her dad, but then again, she had grown up in Europe where the legal drinking age was eighteen or even sixteen in most countries, and it had seemed odd that they should change their habits within the family when they had moved across the pond. 

*

“So, Cal… That’s a real hottie you’ve landed there mate… She got any friends?”

Cal was just getting some refreshments for himself and Viola when Leo snuck up on him and slapped his back.  _ Okay, here we go… _ he thought to himself. Leo was a real player himself, and he basically hit on anyone that got close enough and wasn’t completely horrible looking. Cal had been going out with Leo and his friends a couple of times in Star City, and he had once hooked up with some girl Leo knew, although it had never gotten any further than dancing and a bit of innocent making out. But ever since, Leo considered Cal to be his wingman.

“Yeah, I didn’t think you had it in you kid… “ Bart came barging in on their conversation with a smirk and patted Cal on the shoulder “But seriously. I’ve never had the honor of being introduced to one of your lady friends before Cal… You’re serious about her then, are you?” 

“Hey, Bart… What’s up?” Cal smiled at him, but was unwilling to answer the questions about Viola.

Bart gave Cal a big grin and leaned back against the wall, taking a swig out of his beer. He had always been more like a big brother to Cal and Ellen than an uncle or friend of their parents. Cal reckoned it was because he never realized himself that he actually grew up. Or that he was supposed to have done so anyway. Bart considered himself to be quite the Don Juan, and he did have a way of charming women that got him a lot of casual acquaintances and one night stands, but so far he had never managed to make any relationship last. He always maintained that this was just the way he liked things though, which made Leo think of him as his primary role model and guide in the courtship jungle and always clung to every word of advice he had like glue. Cal, however, strongly suspected that at heart, Bart was a bit jealous of the JLA members who had actually managed to settle down and have families even though their secret identities made life a bit more complicated in the relationship department.

“So did you bring a date tonight Bart?” Cal asked, hoping to draw the attention from himself, but he had no such luck.

“A date? If I had a date tonight, Cal, I would currently be enjoying myself in ways that are not appropriate to discuss with innocent kids like yourself, instead of hanging around dinner parties and being entertained with stories about somebody else’s love life. Which I now intend to be, by the way…” he smirked at Cal.

“Yeah, don’t try to change the subject, Cal. We want to hear all about you and Viola. You are not getting away from this, you know.” Leo added in a manner that made Cal sigh and give up any ideas of doing exactly that.

“Oki then… What do you want to know?” Cal asked the others.

“So how long have you been going out?” Leo started.

“Only about five or six weeks, officially… but we’ve been hanging out a lot for a couple of months before that.”

“So why did it take you so long to ask her out?” Bart asked.

“Hm… actually she asked me out…” Cal grinned and looked a bit embarrassed, anticipating their reaction.

“What? She had to ask you? Who the hell are you and what happened to my cousin Callum? Cool, flirty, player type of guy? Usually not at all shy around girls since they always throw themselves at the undeserving bastard?” Leo scorned.

“I don’t know… I actually like her, you know. We were friends at first, and I guess I didn’t want to ruin that… You know, with the secrets and stuff too…” he tried to explain, feeling a bit uncomfortable at the confession.

“Hell man, you really are in trouble this time, aren’t you?” Bart said, eyebrows raised. But Cal just shrugged sheepishly in return.

“So did you even sleep with her yet, or are you going to save it for your wedding night?” Leo smirked at him.

“I haven’t proposed if that’s what you’re implying. I’m just saying I like her… But I  _ am _ actually kind of serious about her, so I would appreciate it if you don’t embarrass me with that kind of questions when she can hear you, ok?”

“Oh, touchy, are we now…?” Leo said, trying hard to stifle a laugh. “But seriously, mate. Are you getting any? Come on now… share…you know I always do!”

“I know you do, but I’m not sure it’s because anybody actually wants to know…” Cal smirked back at him.

“Ha, you’re just jealous… So I’m guessing the answer is  _ no _ since you are so reluctant to tell us… Perhaps Bart can give you a couple of hints about how to seduce a woman…” 

“Sorry guys, when it comes to relationships, I’m not the source you want to trust… I can help you if you want to know how to get some hanky panky and still remain a free agent afterwards, but I’m guessing that’s not the case for our young Cal here…”

“Yeah, thanks… I actually don’t need any advice on how to get into her pants right now…” Cal said, trying to sound casual, but couldn’t stop himself from blushing.

“Oh, come on Cal. Now I’m really curious. Spill, or I will have to ask Viola…” Leo said innocently.

“You wouldn’t...” Cal started, but Leo just smirked evilly, and Cal knew very well he would…

“Ok, if you must know… No, we didn’t go all the way yet… We’ve gotten quite far a couple of times. But then I kind of ran into a...problem… and now my biggest challenge is actually keeping  _ her  _ out of  _ my  _ pants without raising suspicions…” Cal tried to explain, looking kind of unhappy.

“You’ve got to elaborate on this mate… I have a hard time believing you’ve got problems performing at your age…?” Bart asked with an incredulous look on his face, while Leo was just shaking his head in disbelief.

Cal took a quick glance around the room to see who might be listening before he continued. Luckily, nobody was close enough to them to over hear anything with normal, human hearing. He saw Viola standing across the room talking to Ellen, Will and Jonathan, and for a moment their eyes met and he felt the familiar heat in his stomach. She would probably understand that they were interrogating him about her, but it was no use. If he didn’t come clean, they would snoop around trying to pry information from her or from Ellen, which would be worse anyway. 

“Alright, so it started with me suddenly developing heat vision, right in the middle of a heavy make out session, mind you… She was trying to get my shirt off, and suddenly I just felt my eyes burn…” he started to explain, while the other two bursted out laughing. 

Naturally, he hadn’t expected anything else. But the truth would come out sooner or later, so it was better to just get it over with and let them laugh all they wanted at his expense. He went on to tell the whole story, from what happened at the dance, and that his dad grounded him and took his blue k-bracelet, to that he managed to convince Viola that they had to take it slower and how frustrated he was not to be able to tell her the truth. In the end, both his cousin and his older friend actually felt sorry for him to the point of almost giving up messing with him.

“Hell man, your life is complicated…” Leo shook his head and gave Cal a comforting pat on the back when he had finished his story. 

“But it’s really cool with the heat vision though… I’ve always envied Clark a bit when he uses it. Scares the living daylights out of most bad guys when he sets fire to things around them just by looking…” Bart said thoughtfully.

“I guess… but it’s not so cool when you end up almost setting fire to your girlfriend’s bedroom everytime you try to get to second base or beyond…” Cal scoffed.

“I can’t believe your dad took away your bracelet though, that was pretty tough… “ Leo said incredulously. 

“Yeah, I think I will have to talk to my old amigo Clark about this… Just because he’s tied down in boring old married life and probably doesn’t get laid on a regular basis any more, it shouldn’t mean he should try to stop his son from having some fun…” Bart suggested with a smug smile.

“Please don’t… I seriously doubt it would help. And you’d be surprised at the falseness of some of your assumptions about married life, I might add. At least when it comes to those two…” he muttered with a disgusted frown on his face. “Besides, I think it was more the fact that I didn’t tell him about the heat vision that pissed him off, not so much what I might be doing or not with Viola. Although he is a bit more old fashioned about those things than mum is I guess….” Cal continued quickly before Bart could start asking any questions about his parents’ love life that he really didn’t want to answer. 

*

Viola was trying to listen to some story Ellen was telling, while watching Cal talk to Leo and Bart from across the room. He had managed to lose the reindeer antlers Ellen had tried to make him wear, which was too bad. Now he just looked illegally handsome as usual instead of just cute, where he stood raking his hand through his messy dark hair, and she couldn’t stop herself from staring for just a while. When she met his clear blue gaze, she felt a sting of electricity in her chest. Damn, how could he make her feel like this after spending almost the whole day together? She saw him blushing a bit when somebody asked him a question, and it wasn’t really rocket science to figure out that they were talking about her. 

“Please, Vi… can you focus on something else than staring at my brother for a change…?” Ellen suddenly nudged her in the side with an elbow, and the others around them smiled at her. She blushed when she realized she had been caught in the action.

“I was just wondering what they might be talking about over there, that’s all…” she tried to convince Ellen. 

“Yeah, If I know those three, and judging from the way they keep glancing at you, I would say it’s pretty obvious…” Jonathan smirked. 

“Perhaps we should take mercy on Cal and go over there and save him from the interrogation?” Will suggested.

“Well, at least I’m starting to think that I will have to get the refreshments myself if I want any, because Cal seems to have forgotten about his mission…” Viola lauged.

  
  


When they joined the others, it did indeed get a bit quiet at first, which confirmed the theory that Viola had been the subject of conversation. But they were at least decent enough not to make her suffer, although she suspected it was just because it was their first time meeting her. Instead, they started telling her about the people attending the party, and Viola especially had much fun listening to the stories Bart told them about Clark when he was younger. He seemed to have been much more carefree and relaxed back then, and even if he had grown up since, Viola didn’t really manage to piece together the descriptions with the man she had met at all. Nobody else seemed to react, though, which just added to her suspicions that something was weird about him as well.

When Viola left the party with Will, most of the other guests said their goodbyes too. Only the Sullivan-Queens, Mr Wayne, their uncle Bart, who Viola knew wasn’t their real uncle at all, and a couple of other people stayed behind _ . Probably the ones who are in on the secrets… _ Viola reasoned. When she got home, she joined her father and brother in the living room. She didn’t know how much she should tell them about the party or the guests, she had a feeling that they might not want people to know about some of their relations. Luckily, they didn’t ask too much about the party though, they were satisfied when she said it had been fun. She, on the other hand, was curious about what Sebastian had thought about Cal.

“So, what did you think about Cal Sebastian? Dad thinks something is off with him because he can’t find a fault in him… You’ve always been a good judge of character, what do you think?” she asked while flashing a lopsided smile at her father.

“I think he seems like a great guy Viola. I can really see how much you two care about each other…” Sebastian answered truthfully.

“See dad, Seb can’t sense any skeletons in his closet either…” Viola smiled.

“I never said anything about skeletons Vi, I just get the feeling I think he might be hiding something, that’s all… It doesn’t have to be something bad.” Sven defended himself.

“I see what you mean, and I have to agree with you. In one way, he seems like the most normal of all normal guys, but I still pick up something about him. He’s different somehow… But I don’t think it is anything to worry about.” Sebastian said, staring into the fire like he was trying to piece something together. 

“Yeah, I know… He’s extraordinary in a way. Like extraordinarily handsome, for example....” Viola joked, trying to put an end to the discussion. She started to really regret having asked about Sebastian’s opinion in the first place. In one way, she was dying to ask how he had picked up something weird, and what that was. But on the other hand, she didn’t want them to suspect anything about Cal, she had promised him not to mention anything about a secret, not even to her family. Instead, she asked what her brother and father had been doing all evening, and she quite soon excused herself to go to bed. 

She lay in bed that night and went through the day in her head. It was stupid, but she already missed Cal. She opened a black velvet box and studied the necklace he had given her with a smile. Her thoughts went back to when he had asked her to come out to the loft in the barn with her. She had hoped he wanted to sneak out for some snogging, but instead he had given her a Christmas present.

“I got you a little something… Merry Christmas Vi…” he said, handed her a small parcel, wrapped in gold paper and with a red ribbon around it, and kissed her softly on the lips.

“Do you want me to open it now, or should I save it for tomorrow?” 

“No, go ahead and open it…”

She unwrapped it carefully, and found a small velvet box inside. She opened the box slowly, feeling a bit nervous. She hadn’t really expected him to get her something as personal as a piece of jewelry - if that was what it was - for their first Christmas. Inside the box, she found a silver necklace with a heart shaped locket hanging from it. It was a really simple, but stylish design. It was almost completely smooth, except for a small clasp at one side.

“Wow, that’s really cute. Thank you… Does it open…?” she said, turning it over in her hand. She really wondered what was inside, and a quick thought crossed her mind that she hoped it wasn’t a picture of him, since that would be almost too mushy…. But when Cal showed her how to open it, she was surprised to find a blue stone inside. She thought for a moment that it was almost the same beautiful color as his eyes…  _ God, who’s mushy now… _ she thought and smiled.

“Oh, it’s beautiful Cal… But can I ask… Why is the stone on the inside?” she asked curiously.

“Hmmm… I know you’ll hate me for this, but I can’t tell you right now. But I want you to know it has a special meaning, and someday I will explain it to you. For now, you’d better keep it closed though...” he said with a secretive tone.

“...also, it’s pretty on the outside, but even more beautiful on the inside, just like you…” he said with a small wink, and held his hand up to protect himself from the pillow he knew was coming while he was laughing.

“God, I knew it. You  _ are _ a sap Callum Lane-Kent. I don’t know if I should hit you or kiss you for that…” she laughed at him.

“I’ll go for the kiss if you don’t mind…” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, this chapter is kind of slow... Had I written this today, I would probably have made this shorter and in pieces squeezed into the other chapters. Basically, we needed to meet some people and do some character development, but I can see now that it's not the most exciting part of this story, really...


	7. Finding your inner calm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the poor teenagers are a bit sexually frustrated and Cal takes meditation lessons. Also Cal gets a bit suspicious about Sebastian; and Viola is realizing something about Cal's bracelet...

“So, just try to sit like that for a while, and let any thoughts that come to your mind just flow past without focusing on them…” Sebastian said in a calm voice, while seated with his legs crossed on a cushion in front of the living room fire.

It was two days before New Year when Cal was meeting up with Sebastian to get some tips about meditation while Viola was hanging out with the girls and Will at the Beanery. He had not been joking about not wanting her around when they were practicing, but although Cal felt a bit awkward being alone with Sebastian at first, he also agreed it was for the best. He just hoped he wasn’t going to be on the receiving end of some “big brother speech” where he was going to be lectured about not hurting Viola or something. Luckily, Sebastian was really cool and didn’t even ask about why Cal wanted to learn how to increase his focus at first. 

Instead, Sebastian had dived right into telling Cal a bit about the history of mindfulness and meditation, as well as his own experience in the subject. Now, they had advanced to the more practical lesson. Cal felt a bit stupid, sitting on the floor like this and “trying to find his center”, and he didn’t really know what to expect. He was determined to give it his best shot anyway, and not just because he saw it as an opportunity to bond with Viola’s brother. He had had another close call with the heat vision two days earlier, when he and Viola were alone in her house. Her father and brother had been gone over the weekend, and Cal had taken Viola out on the long overdue date he had promised her after the school dance. They had really had a great time, starting the day in Metropolis with Cal showing her around the city and taking her ice skating in Central Park before taking her to dinner at a new, really hip vegetarian restaurant he had managed to track down and get reservations at. When they got back to Smallville, it was late, but since they were on break from school, they still had a couple of hours before bedtime and Viola had insisted on inviting him in.

“Thanks for a great first date Cal…”

“Glad you enjoyed it Vi… So, does this mean you will go out with me again…?” he had asked with a teasing smile.

“Hm… I don’t know. Why don’t you come in for a bit and we can talk about it?” she had answered, biting her lower lip a bit.

“Oh, but Viola. It’s only our first date… are you sure you want to invite me in so soon?”

“Shut up and kiss me, will you?” she had asked and dragged him inside with a laugh.

Inside, Viola had made them some tea and they had curled up on the couch in front of a sparkling fire. They both found it hard to keep their hands to themselves though, and it had not been long before the innocent kissing transformed into a rather heavy make out session. Cal had been a bit nervous, but also quite sure he could concentrate as long as Viola kept her hands above his belt, which he had to remind her of discretely a couple of times. She had promised to be a good girl, but it was obvious, that she was slowly reaching her limit of frustration, and he had decided to try to at least give her whatever pleasure he could manage. It hadn’t been too hard to get her close to the edge as she had been incredibly turned on and wanted him so badly. He was pleased with the progress he was making with his ability to keep calm in this incredibly intimate situation, although he had been pretty desperately turned on himself. However, when she had moaned out his name loudly and climaxed around his fingers it had been too much for him. He hadn’t even felt it coming and his only rescue had been that there had already been a fire alight in the stove, where he could direct the blaze that was flashing from his eyes. Luckily, it had only been a fraction of a second before he had been able to take control over it, and Viola had been too distracted to notice the sudden increase in flames in the fire. 

After that incident, he was even more dedicated to taking control of his new power and earning his blue-k bracelet back. He knew that he would never dare to make love to her for the first time without his bracelet, even if he managed to get better control over the heat vision. There was no way of practicing that situation properly, and he suspected it would be like nothing he had ever experienced. And it was with this incentive that he now sat on the floor, prepared to follow Sebastian’s every instruction, no matter how stupid he felt. 

“Good, I could really feel you becoming more focused this time Cal… you are a quick learner…” Sebastian said after a couple of times practicing different techniques. And Cal did see what he meant. During the last ten minutes it had been like if he had been able to access a deep part of his mind that had always been there, but that he hadn’t ever been conscious of before. For a fraction of a second, it was as if he had been lost in himself, but still having a strange feeling of connecting with the universe. When he looked up, he saw Sebastian watching him with a strange look on his face, almost as if he had seen him clearly for the first time. Cal got the eerie feeling he could see right through him, but he didn’t dare to ask him about it. After a while, Sebastian spoke again, a bit hesitant at first.

“Okay… Let’s try something else… Why don’t you try to think about whatever it is that usually gets you distracted? You don’t have to tell me what it is, just take a couple of minutes to relive one of those situations, ok? And when you feel that you are losing control of your mind, try to find your way back to that part of your mind you just connected with…” he said. 

Cal felt a bit uneasy about trying to think about being intimate with Viola with her brother sitting across from him on the floor, and almost as if he had read Cal’s mind, Sebastian had excused himself to go out into the kitchen and make some tea while Cal tried. The memories of Viola on the couch were still quite vivid in Cal’s mind, so he didn’t have much of a problem getting back the feeling of losing his focus in a haze of desire. It wasn’t the same as having her there, of course, and he could probably have controlled it even without the meditation practice, but to his delight, he did find it much easier to turn of the burning sensation in his head now. 

“I think it is working…” he announced happily when Sebastian came back into the living room with tea and scones twenty minutes later. 

“I’m happy to hear it Cal…” Sebastian said, looking a bit thoughtful. “I can practice with you again before I go back if you wish…”

“That would be great, thanks…” Cal answered.

Sebastian took a swig of his tea, and smeared some jam on a scone before he offered the plate to Cal. They sat for a while in silence, looking at the flames dancing around in the fire. Cal had the feeling that there was something on Sebastian’s mind, but he was not sure if he should bring it up. Before he could ask, however, Sebastian spoke.

“As I said Cal, I will be happy to help you. But there is something I would like to ask you…” he watched Cal carefully, but he didn’t get the feeling that it was in a bad way. It was only as if he was really curious about something.

“Ok, shoot…” Cal offered, trying to smile.

“You know Cal, I am a very observant person. Unusually observant, you might say. And a good judge of character too - I have had a lot of practice studying people, and as I have had a lot of experience in the art of meditation and focus myself, I am not so easily distracted as other people…”

“Okay...” Cal said, a bit uncertain, much wanting Sebastian to make his point since this was starting to feel a bit uncomfortable.

“I tell you this so you understand that Viola hasn’t told me anything about you…”

“Told you what about me? What do you mean?” Cal felt his heart sink in his chest. This was definitely not the conversation he had been expecting, and he was suddenly feeling really nervous.

“Cal, I usually don’t care if people keep secrets, as long as their intentions are good. And I can tell you are a good person, so I don’t mind if you are keeping parts of yourself from me… I just want to know what your intentions are with Viola? How much does she really know about you?” Sebastian asked calmly.

Cal didn’t answer at once. He didn’t know what to make of this, and how to react to it. What did Sebastian know, or think he knew? And how? Had he known before, or had he seen something during their meditation? A million thoughts went through his mind, and his first instinct was to play stupid and claim he had no idea what Sebastian meant. Somehow, that didn’t seem like such a good idea on second thought though. He didn’t have the feeling that Sebastian wanted to hurt him or expose him, or that he would have a problem keeping whatever secret he knew to himself. Sebastian was a very special person himself, and Cal had the impression that he didn’t generally see people the same way others did. It was as if it wouldn’t matter to him what a person was - super powered or not, alien or human, man or woman, smart or stupid, straight or gay, CEO or unemployed, black or white… The only thing that mattered to him was if the person was good or bad; in his or her heart.

“Look, Sebastian…” he finally spoke “I don’t know how much you know about me, or how…” Cal started, but at his worried look, Sebastian stopped him with a hand on his arm and a friendly smile.

“Don’t worry Cal. I don’t know everything about you, nor do I care to. I just can’t help noticing that there is something very special about you… For a lack of a better way to describe it; your aura is very strong, and different from anything I have seen. And I’ve got the feeling that you are keeping some things from Viola. I just wonder why. I wouldn’t want you to use whatever I teach you to keep her out… that’s all I need to know.” he explained.

“Yeah. You are right Sebastian. I am keeping something from Viola. And she knows that I do have a secret, but she doesn’t know what it is. She’s ok with it for now, and I have promised to tell her as soon as I can, and I intend to do so. It’s just that it isn’t only my secret to tell… But I promise you that I would never do anything to hurt Viola…” Cal said as honestly as he could, hoping that it would be enough. He saw Sebastian nodding thoughtfully, while he kept staring into the fire, as if he was thinking hard about something.

“I promise you that my reasons for wanting to learn meditation and increase my focus isn’t to shut her out. It is to keep her safe… And to help me have a more… normal existence… even if everything about me isn’t exactly normal…” Cal continued. He hoped he hadn’t said too much. He really didn’t have a clue what Sebastian actually knew or suspected, but he thought that he had at least realized that Cal had some abilities out of the ordinary and he guessed it would be best to be as honest as he could.

“I see…” Sebastian said at long last “I can understand why you can’t tell her right now, and as long as she’s ok with it I won’t judge you for it. I hope you know you can trust me Cal… As I said, I really don’t care about your secret as long as you don’t hurt Viola, and I don’t think you will do that if you can help it…” he smiled at Cal.

“Thanks… I don’t know if I can claim to be such a good judge of character as yourself, but I have a feeling I can trust you…”

Cal didn’t discuss Sebastian’s revelations with Viola, nor did he the two of them talk more about it during their following sessions. In one way, Cal was really curious about what Sebastian suspected, but he figured it was unfair of him to pressure the other man about it without being able to give more of his secrets away himself. But somehow, knowing that Sebastian knew at least something about him made Cal feel more comfortable in his company. It was as if he didn’t have to be as much on his guard as he usually was, knowing that if he slipped up, it wouldn’t mean that he had opened Pandora’s box, it would only mean that he might add a new piece of information to the knowledge that Sebastian already possessed. 

*

Cal found the techniques that Sebastian had taught him very useful indeed, and over the next months he practiced hard both in solitude and with Viola. He also went a couple of extra weekends to the Fortress as he had promised his father, and by the time February turned into March, he felt like he finally had his powers under as much control as he could, at least when he was awake. He could focus his heat vision with an almost surgical precision, just like his dad, and he no longer had to think about sex and dead puppies to turn it on or off. It came natural, just as Clark had promised him it would eventually. 

Even if he now felt safe when he and Viola were engaged in some quite heavy petting sessions from time to time, he hadn’t actually dared to go all the way and actually sleep with her yet. He wanted to try that experience on blue k for the first time, just for safety. A small part of him was also a bit hesitant about the idea of crossing that last intimacy threshold without Viola knowing what she got herself into. For starters, he knew there were no guarantees when it came to any kind of birth control, and he knew it would be a complete disaster if he got her pregnant. Not only did he know it could be a high risk pregnancy, like it had been for his mother who had almost died giving birth to him and Ellen since they were too strong for her body to handle. Having a baby with someone also meant you were stuck with them for life in one way or another, and that wasn’t something he could never do to anyone if they didn’t know the full meaning of being in his life. He knew Viola was more than ready for them to take the last step, and for him to stay the night, which was starting to make him a bit nervous. He didn’t know how much longer he could talk his way out of it, without it sounding like he rejected her. As she had pointed out, they had been doing just about everything except the actual deed already, and she didn’t think it was that much of a difference in intimacy level if the sex was penetrating or not. And, she had added, it wasn’t just about the actual act, if he still felt he couldn’t do that without losing his control, they didn’t have to go all the way. She just wanted for them to sleep together, wake up together, talk all night, have breakfast in the morning. Cal certainly longed for that too - it was kind of an anti climax to have to get dressed and go home to his cold bed again after going through the trouble of taking most of his clothes off in the first place… 

However, Cal knew that staying the night was something he couldn’t possibly do without his bracelet, or Viola knowing about him. Floating in his sleep was the one thing he couldn’t get complete control over. On his last visit to the Fortress, he had practiced the floating with Connor, and he almost had control over it now, when awake. He couldn’t fly yet, but he could hover a bit above the ground with quite a lot of control. Connor thought that it was only his mind stopping him from combining the hovering with the super speed and actually fly, and Clark had agreed with him when they had discussed it later. He hadn’t pushed it though, as he knew very well how hard it had been for himself to master that skill. He had been much older than Cal, and he was triggered by the incentive of staring the end of the world in the face when he had finally taken to the skies. True, it might come a bit more natural to Cal, since he had seen Clark do it all his life, but still. Flying did take a special mindset, and deep down, Cal suspected that he might fear to to it because that was more or less all that stood between him and a future as the “new Superman”, which was a role he wasn’t sure he wanted to inherit. This fear was something he didn’t talk much about with either of his parents or with Ellen though, and he didn’t feel like flying was something he needed to master at this point anyway.

He did, however, really want to prove to his father that he was now in control of his powers and get his bracelet back. And not only because of his relationship with Viola. He had been faking a knee injury to keep him from playing football and he really missed it. He was also sick of throwing games in PE and he wasn’t as skilled at it as Clark had been, and he was scared that some of his classmates would start to get suspicious that he couldn’t seem to break a sweat soon. He decided to talk to his parents about it one Sunday after combat training with Lois in the barn. 

He was wiping his face with an old towel, while he was leaning against the wall, panting. His grey training tank was drenched in sweat, and Lois smiled and nodded at him and Ellen, who lay sprawled out on the floor, refusing to move another muscle.

“Good work today kids…” She said and turned to Clark, who had been watching sitting on the workbench, and he also gave an approving nod.

“Aaaw…. You just love to see us suffer… Why don’t you make dad do blue k practice too?” Ellen huffed from the floor.

“You know, if it wouldn’t hurt his feelings too much that I would kick his ass I might…” Lois said with a small smirk.

“Hey, I thought you said you were proud of how skilled I had become in hand to hand combat just a couple of months ago when I was up against that super powered Vixen thing…” Clark said with a huffy tone. 

“Yeah, I was just trying to get lucky that night you know…” she grinned.

“Mom…” Cal made a face at her but Ellen just laughed.

“Seriously though, maybe you should make him wear Cal’s bracelet when he’s not using it, just to keep him on his toes…” Ellen joked, but Cal knew she was actually trying to push him to bring the issue up with their parents. She had been telling him repeatedly that she was sure he was going to get it back if he just asked for it, but he had been scared to do it for some reason. Perhaps he didn’t want to risk his dad questioning his efforts, or to get into the discussion of his love life and level of intimacy with Viola. But still, enough was enough, and he really wanted it back. 

“You know, I actually think it’s about time I get to keep the bracelet now… After all, I have control over the heat vision. And I have learned my lesson, I can promise you that much...” he started to try to convince them, but was surprised to see that they were both grinning broadly at him. 

“What…?” he asked, confused.

“Yes Cal, you can keep it now… We were just waiting for you to bring it up; we decided you would tell us when you were ready…” Clark said.

“And besides, you know how helpless your father would be if I made him wear it instead…” Lois grinned and elbowed her husband in the side.

“Oh, well… thanks… I guess...” Cal said, feeling a bit insecure, while he watched Ellen trying to stifle a laugh where she sat on the floor. He felt a bit stupid, it was so typical his parents. He would probably had gotten it back weeks ago, if he had only had the courage to bring it up. 

*

When Cal and Ellen entered the Beanery later that afternoon, they were both in a great mood. Viola could see them laughing and joking as they made their way through the room. She and Will knew they had been sparring this morning and they usually argued about who had won on those days, but today nobody seemed to hold any grudges against the other. 

Viola got up to greet Cal when he came, and he lifted her up in his arms and swung her around before he kissed her softly on the lips.

“Hey, beautiful. I missed you…” he said with an affectionate smile.

“Hello to you too… you sure seem to be happy today? What’s up?” she asked and smiled back. Not that she was complaining, and he always seemed happy to see her, but still. There was definitely something going on.

“Oh, no reason… It’s just a good day today…” he said brightly.

“We’re just celebrating that Cal finally learned how to take getting his ass handed to him like a real man…” Ellen smirked.

“Yeah, sure El. I think I recall you being the one flat out on the floor at the end of the sparring session this morning…”

“Hey, I was just resting a bit. Don’t start with me, haven’t you had enough real victories today without having to make stuff up?”

“Why don’t I get us some coffee while you keep on lying to our poor friends here…?” Cal quickly added to interrupt Ellen, since he didn’t want to have to explain the last statement to Viola. “Who wants a refill?” he asked the other two before heading to the counter to make his order.

*

When Viola and Cal sat curled up on the couch in her living room watching a movie that same night, she recalled the conversation from the Beanery earlier. She had briefly wondered what victory Ellen had referred to, but she had not pressed the issue, since she had noticed Cal’s not so subtle effort to change the subject. She was getting really good at spotting the slight tension that always grew between her three friends when one of them slipped up and mentioned something that she wasn’t supposed to know about. Usually, she just let it drop and didn’t think more about it. But today, she had also noticed something else, and she couldn’t help but think it was related. Cal had his bracelet back. The bracelet he always used to wear before and that he had seemed forced to give up to Lois that time after Christmas Formal. She hadn’t seen that for more than two months, but now it was suddenly back on his wrist, the same day Ellen had said he had won a victory. And he had seemed to be in an unusually good mood all day. It could not be a coincidence.


	8. Meteor rocks and drama

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Viola starts getting really suspicious about Cal's powers when they get into a bit of trouble...

Viola couldn’t help it. She was starting to notice things. For starters, there was definitely something about Cal’s bracelet. Now that he had it back, she realized that he suddenly was back on the Football team and back to his normal behavior in PE class. It was like the “knee injury” he had had, which hadn’t seemed to stop him from training with his mom or hunting Viola around the courtyard by the way, was suddenly gone. When she started paying attention, she also noticed something she couldn’t believe she had never seen before. The bracelet changed color. Where it usually had a pure metal pearl, clasped to a black leather band, it sometimes had a tiny blue stone in the middle. It was coincidentally exactly the same color as the much bigger stone in the heart shaped locket he had given her for Christmas. What could that possibly mean? 

She had also noticed that Cal was suddenly much more relaxed and eager when making out with her. It had slowly become better as he was practicing the meditation technique, but after the day he got his bracelet back, it was as if all his fears were gone. They had advanced much further, doing practically everything but the deed itself, and Viola suspected that any insecurities left were more like the normal teenager hang ups, since she was almost sure Cal was a virgin. Well, she was going to change that if she got the chance...

Cal was visiting Viola at her house on a Friday night a couple of weeks after the return of the bracelet, when a new piece of information was added to the mystery. Sven was going away on a conference over the weekend, presenting some of his recent research results, and he was all fired up, talking about it while Cal and Viola were making pizza in the kitchen. 

“So what do you say Vi, can I wear this for my speech tomorrow?” he came out of his bedroom wearing a beige linen suit that could use a good ironing, and which looked a bit like a left over from the 1990:es,.

“Hm. I don’t know dad… I’m sure it’s more important what you say, but don’t you own a real suit? Like charcoal or blue or something…?” she asked, tilting her head a bit. 

“I hate suits….” he grumbled. “I’m a field scientist, not a male model…” 

Viola snorted with laughter at this statement, and was just about to say something, probably insulting, when Cal interrupted her and changed the subject.

“So what are you going to talk about?” he asked, while chopping up some onions. He was actually kind of curious. He knew Viola’s dad was working on the effects of the meteor rocks on the environment, but he had never wanted to appear to be too curious. This seemed like a good opportunity to bring it up without it being suspicious.

“Oh, I have actually had some pretty interesting preliminary results… You know the green meteor rocks that used to be all over Smallville, right?” Sven started explaining, and Cal nodded in response “Well, most of them have been cleared away by the EPA as you would also know, but there are fairly good documentation as to which locations used to have large concentrations of the rocks. Well, one thing I found is that some species of plants have also mutated around those areas, which is interesting enough in itself, since the government always claimed the rocks wouldn’t have any negative effects on the environment. It’s well known now, of course, that some humans seem to be affected by the mutating powers of the rocks. It has always been a well known secret that they could affect plants as well, but this is the first time any scientific proof has been offered to the public.”

“Wow, that’s cool…” Cal said, but so far, it wasn’t really anything new.

“No, that’s just proving the obvious… here’s what’s cool: I realized that there are certain spots where there hasn’t been any mutations, even though there were really high concentrations of meteor rock. So I started to do some investigations at those spots, cross referencing with the observations from earlier.” Sven opened his laptop and showed Cal a map over the area with some locations marked on it.

“You’re right… that’s really cool. And? Did you find a pattern?” Cal was starting to get enthusiastic now.

“Yeah, I think I did actually! The results are preliminary, of course, but still interesting. There have been rumors for a long time about other forms of meteor rock, except the green ones. The red version has been confirmed previously, and seems to lead to mental effects in some animal species. It does not seem, however, that it affects plants and no effects on humans have been demonstrated. Now, here’s the interesting thing - I have been able to confirm the existence of blue meteor rock. It‘s existence has been rumored for a while, along with supposedly positive effects on health and growth of plants. And if I cross reference the locations where blue meteor rock supposedly has been seen with the other map…” he opened another document on his computer and layered it over the first one, which made an obvious pattern appear. 

“Oh… It’s the same locations…” Cal said, eyes wide.

“Exactly. Now, my theory is that the radiation from the blue rock may cancel the effects of the green ones. Or it might actually be a combination of all three sorts of meteor rock, since the red is usually found together with the blue… If I’m right, it could mean that we might be able to undo any negative effects on the environment. Perhaps even cure some of the meteor infected people…” Sven finished, with a dreamy gaze into his computer.

Cal paused for a second to think about this. Sven had no idea, but if this was true, there might actually be a way to reverse the Kryptonians’ weakness to Kryptonite. This was huge! 

“So, you said the results were preliminary… how might they be proved…?” Cal asked curiously.

“Well, the best way would be clinical testing of course. And I intend to apply for extended funding to be able to do that, but it can take time… One problem is also that the meteor rocks are so hard to come by now. Even the green ones are becoming rare, and the blue version is practically impossible to find. Since it was rare from the start, and because of the various positive health effects assigned to it, the land was swept clean of any specimens long before the EPA did the clean up. I doubt even the government has any significant amounts hidden anymore…” 

“Oh, that’s a shame…” Cal said, but secretly his mind was spinning. He needed to tell Dr Emil about this. Surely, the League could provide both funding and samples if they thought it was interesting. “But you said you had proven the existence of it…?” he suddenly remembered to ask.

“Yes! Finally, I have managed to find small samples of all three known types of meteor rock...” he said proudly, and pulled a small box from his pocket. As he opened it and exposed three small pieces of rock, Cal instantly took a step back.

“Don’t worry. It won’t hurt you to just look at them… the people who have been infected have all gotten the substance into their bodies…” Sven said, with a small laugh.

_ Yeah, speak for yourself… _ Cal thought, waiting for the pain from the marble sized green rock. He was instantly amazed to notice that he almost couldn’t feel anything. A slight headache and a weird sensation in his stomach was all, not at all the searing pain that made you want do die that green k usually made him feel. The green rock was by far the biggest of the three, though. The red k sample was about half the size, and the blue one was not much bigger than a pearl. It was at least much smaller than the rock he had given Viola for Christmas, and he suddenly became aware of that she was clasping her locker. She had obviously noticed the similarity in the color of the stones. There was no use trying to deny what it contained, but he had to keep her from telling her father about the necklace, or he would have to answer some uncomfortable questions. Cal caught her eye and gave her a small, but evident shake of his head. She seemed to have gotten the message though, because she let go of the necklace and didn’t say anything. He would have to explain this later… Somehow…

“...but you better not tell anyone I have these here in the house, or we might get unexpected visitors. Especially the blue sample could probably bring in half a month’s salary for me on the black market. There are some crazy people out there hunting for this stuff…” he chuckled. “I usually keep it locked up in the lab, but since I’m bringing it to the conference tomorrow, I thought I would show you.”

*

When they were alone in Viola’s room later that evening, she couldn’t help herself anymore. She knew it was probably part of the secret, and she had promised not to pry… but still. At least she needed to know if she was actually walking around with something that valuable around her neck.

“Sooo… are you going to tell me about this? Is it really a meteor rock?” She asked and held up her necklace.

“Well...um… yeah. It is. I don’t actually know if it really has any health promoting properties, but if you want, you could always sleep with it open at night. I would prefer if you don’t show the content to anyone though…” Cal answered.

“I can’t believe you gave me something that valuable…” she stared, but Cal interrupted her.

“Don’t… It’s not like that. It’s true that it’s valuable on the black market, but if you have the right… connections… it’s easier to come by. I can’t really tell you about how and why right now, but let’s just say that there might come a day when you will find that rock useful. But for now, just don’t tell anyone, ok?” he gave her a pleading look and she knew he wouldn’t answer more questions.

“...and one more thing…” he suddenly added “It’s also good if you generally keep it shut when I’m around. I… eehh… Let's just say that its effects are not necessarily health promoting on all people and I think I may be a bit allergic or something.” he mumbled. He knew it was a lame explanation, and one that she wouldn’t buy. But now that she knew what the stone was, he couldn’t risk her opening it around him, taking away his powers, in some very unfortunate situation.

“...ok”. Viola had opened her mouth to protest that it might not be so clever to have a stone like that on his bracelet if he was allergic to it, but she thought the better of it. She was starting to put the pieces of the puzzle together. Evidently the blue rock affected him somehow, and he had been forced to take it off after the Christmas dance, which had led to him not being able to be intimate with her, or to participate in sports anymore. She was slowly developing her own theory. What if the blue rock gave him some kind of power? Or if he was indeed meteor infected, and it helped him regulate his power somehow? The funny thing was that Ellen had a similar bracelet. Viola very much wondered if it did turn blue too, she had never noticed, but then again, it had taken her quite a long time to realize Cal’s bracelet did. 

*

The spring break was coming up and Ellen had insisted that they should use the opportunity to celebrate with a small get together at Viola’s place since her father wouldn’t be home until late at night after the conference. Viola had agreed, although she had been a bit reluctant at first. She had hoped that a whole evening alone with Cal in the house would mean she could persuade him to stay the night, or at least stay very late… She didn’t want to tell Ellen this though, so she had seen no way out of the party. Even though she didn’t manage to get any alone time with Cal at all, she had to admit that they had fun. They had invited Paige and Mia along with Mia’s new boyfriend as well as a couple of guys from the football team. One of them, a big blonde type called Mike, obviously had a thing for Ellen and kept hitting on her all evening while they were playing games and hanging out. Cal didn’t drink at all, as usual, but the other guys were drinking beer and Mike obviously tried to get Ellen drunk with the hope of her caving in to his efforts. He suggested they play “never have I ever”; and all his statements were obviously things he knew Ellen had done. Viola had had to drink almost as much as Ellen though, but where she was slowly starting to get pretty tipsy, she noticed that Ellen seemed completely unaffected by it, much to Mike’s chagrin. When Viola suggested “Never have I ever died from sexual frustration since I can’t seem to get any alone time with my hot boyfriend…” and swallowed a shot herself, Cal decided they might have had enough to drink and interrupted the game. 

“Hey, you know, if you ever have that problem, I would be more than happy to oblige…” Mike slured, leaning towards Ellen with a very unattractive smile on his face that was probably meant to be seductive. 

“Charming…” she sighed sarcastically. Being the only sober one at a party, well, except for Cal, was sometimes hard.

Instead, Ellen pointed out that Viola’s dad might be home in an hour, and the party was terminated. Ellen and Cal helped Viola clean up the place, and Cal forced her to go to bed before they left. She was still a bit drunk, but it wasn’t too bad. Nothing a good night’s sleep wouldn’t cure. Viola kept giggling and suggested he might have to stay and take care of her though, but Cal just shook his head at her. 

“You’re cute, but I think you’ll manage… Besides, your dad will be home soon…” he said as he led her into her bedroom.

“Yeah, but we can be really, really quiet…” she giggled and accidentally hit the dresser, knocking down a lamp and some other things with a loud bang.

Cal laughed at her and smiled. “Yeah, sure… good start…” 

“Oh, come on… we can just make out a bit…?” she suggested and started taking her clothes off, but Cal stopped her, insisting that he had to take Ellen home now. Viola pouted a bit, but gave in after making him promise her a rain check. She crept into her bed, a bit disappointed, but she almost immediately fell asleep.

*

When Viola woke up the following morning, she instantly felt something was wrong. She had a bit of a hangover, sure, but that wasn’t it. She got up and took a shower before getting dressed and making her way down into the kitchen for some aspirins and coffee. She suddenly remembered her behavior last night, and the fact that Cal had been completely sober.  _ Oh crap… did I really complain that I wasn’t getting laid in front of all of his friends? He’s going to hate me… _ she felt really ashamed. She thought about calling him, but she decided to have some breakfast first, and hoped he might call first. But then she realized it was almost noon… he had probably been up for a while. There were no texts from him either so she picked up the phone and wrote a short “ _ forgive me?”  _ and a puppy dog eyed smiley to him, before putting on the coffee machine.  _ Hm… the coffee machine… _ Why hadn’t her dad made coffee? And where was he? The feeling that something was wrong was creeping back up her spine. It hadn’t been about Cal and what she had said. No. Something else wasn’t right. 

Her phone beeped and she smiled when she saw “ _ always…” _ and a heart on the screen. She let out a breath in relief, but the uncanny feeling was still there. It had evidently nothing to do with the mood of her gorgeous boyfriend. She took a tour of the house, but she couldn’t find her father anywhere. She checked the driveway and his car was gone too. Where was he off to this early in the morning? Or, on second thought, it wasn’t that early. But still. He hadn’t told her about any errands he had to run today, and he had left no note. They were supposed to go on a hiking trip, and she was actually surprised he hadn’t thrown her out of bed earlier. Perhaps he was just at the store or something? She ate a bit of breakfast even if she wasn’t really feeling all that hungry. It was when she was cleaning up her dishes that it hit her. Nothing in the kitchen had been touched. She had started the dishwasher before she had gone to sleep and it was still full of clean glasses and plates after last night’s party. And there were no dishes in the sink either, which meant her dad hadn’t had breakfast. Or even coffee. That was very unlike him indeed. The uneasiness spread from the pit of her stomach, as she went about the house. She tried to remember what he had been wearing yesterday, and she couldn’t find a trace of either his good shoes, his nice overcoat or the ugly linen suit anywhere. There was only one, really frightening conclusion she could make. He didn’t come home last night. She felt her insides freeze. He would never, ever, voluntarily not come home without telling her about it. She opened her phone again and went through all the messages, hands shaking a bit. Nothing. She dialed his number, but there was no answer. She tried again. Nothing. She texted him that he should call her at once and flung herself down on the couch. What was she going to do now?

*

Cal was shooting a basketball through the hoop on the side of the barn. He was bored and in a bit of a bad mood. Ellen was spending a couple of days at the Fortress, starting this morning, and Will was off on some trip with his mom. His parents had gone in to work even though it was Sunday. There was evidently some big story going on that couldn’t wait. Cal had promised to help out with a few things on the farm that needed fixing, as he had nothing better do do anyway, but at the moment, he was stalling. Viola was going away for two days with her dad on a hiking trip, and he was a bit annoyed that they had left things where they had yesterday. Not that he was really angry with her, it hadn’t been that bad. But he was a bit sulky that he had to spend the next days missing her with the last memory being her drunken rambling about. When she texted him and asked for his forgiveness, he instantly forgot about that though, and send her a comforting message back. She was probably feeling even worse about it than he did. But he wished he could have at least seen her before she left. Of course, it was only for a couple of days and they would have the whole rest of the week together. She had even suggested they could go on a little hike themselves. It sounded nice, but he didn’t know if his parents would like it. Perhaps if Ellen went too? He felt a bit divided. In one way, all he wished for was some alone time with Viola, but yesterday it had become perfectly clear what she wanted to do with that time… Not that he didn’t want that too, but he was still a bit scared. He threw another ball through the hoop and sighed. Even with his bracelet turned on, it wasn’t much of a challenge anymore. 

Suddenly, his phone rang. It was Viola and he picked it up, happy to at least hear her voice, but he heard at once that something was wrong.

“Hi Cal… What are you doing?” she asked, but she sounded a bit distant somehow.

“Nothing, really… are you still home?” 

“Yeah… that’s the thing… my dad’s gone. Or, I don’t know… I just woke up an hour ago and he was gone, but he hasn’t come home yet and he hasn’t left a note. I’m starting to freak out. Cal, I don’t think he made it home last night…” she said, sounding terrified.

“What? That’s weird… do you want me to come over?” he asked, already on his way to get his car keys. It was at moments like this he really wished Viola knew about him. He could have been there in thirty seconds, but now he had to do the ten minute drive not to seem suspicious.

“If you don’t mind… I feel a bit freaked out right now, and I’m not really thinking straight…” 

*

“So, his clothes from yesterday aren’t here, he’s not had breakfast and he hasn’t left any messages, right?” Cal summed the situation up still hugging her almost trembling body in a tight embrace. “It does sound like he didn’t come home…” 

“Oh, Cal… what if something happened to him? I can’t lose him too…” she sobbed a bit, but there weren’t really any tears. She wasn’t much of a weeper, really, at least not when she was sober. And now she was in some weird state of half despair, half calm, still trying to convince herself it was just a stupid misunderstanding. 

“Relax, I’m sure he will turn up. If he had been in some kind of accident, you would have heard about it by now, right?” Cal tried to comfort her. “But we should probably call the Sheriff anyway…”

The Sheriff, it turned out, couldn’t help them much. She said he needed to be gone for more than twenty four hours before reported missing. She claimed he might just have hooked up with some woman at the conference and forgotten to call. It was, she said, known to happen all the time. Viola was furious. Her dad wouldn’t just do something like that without calling her. No way. 

At least the phone call made her turn her anxiety into anger, and she was huffing about the house, trying to think about something to do. Cal called his dad, who promised to check out the hospital in Metropolis, just in case there had been any unidentified accident victims or something during the night. But as far as he knew, everything had been quiet both in Metropolis and Smallville. And he would know, as he had been on patrol most of the night. Luckily, he found nothing, and he promised he and Lois would come home as soon as possible and help them look into the mystery. 

“Come on. Let’s go to my place and wait for my parents, I’ll make you some tea… I’m sure they will be able to think of something…”

*

Viola was just about to tell Lois the whole story again, two hours later, when her phone rang. Clark had been held up a bit at work, or rather, with a big fire in an industrial complex just outside of Metropolis, but at the moment there wasn’t much he could have done anyway. 

“Hello…?” it was an unknown number, and Viola was a bit scared when she answered. When she recognized her father’s voice at the other end, she felt relief for a second, but when she heard the distress in it, her stomach dropped again.

“Vi?” he whispered “I don’t have time to explain right now, but you have to get out of the house. They will come for you too… Go to the police station and tell them…” Click. He was gone. 

Viola just stared at the phone, panic spreading on her face. Cal, who had heard the whole conversation too, was looking equally pale. Before he would give himself away, Lois asked what had happened and Viola retold the short conversation with her father. Cal pulled her shaking body into an embrace and exchanged a worried glance with his mother. This didn’t really sound good at all. 

“Viola… “ Lois started tentatively “I don’t want to frighten you, but do you know if anyone would want to hurt you or your dad in any way? Has he received any threats of some kind?”

Viola shook her head. “Not that I can think of… When he worked for Greenpeace he made some enemies, but that was years and years ago, in Germany. Why would they come after him now?”

“No, that doesn’t make sense…” 

“What about his work…?” Cal suggested “He was at that conference yesterday, presenting his results about the meteor rocks… could it have anything to do with that?” 

“Hm, that sounds like too much of a coincidence that he would vanish right after his presentation…” Lois said thoughtfully. 

“And he doesn’t answer his own phone?” she asked again.

“He doesn’t have any kind of App installed that would show the location of his phone? Even if he doesn’t have it, it might show the last location he was at before losing it…” Lois suggested.

“Oh my god. I’m such an idiot” Viola suddenly got to her feet and clasped her hands to her mouth. She picked up her phone and started looking, and sure enough, it showed her dad’s phone as disconnected, but the last location wasn’t the conference, or at home. It was on a parking lot of a big shopping mall just outside of Smallville, right by the highway leading to Metropolis. Could he have been forced to pull over there on his way home?

“Let’s go check if his car is there…” Viola jumped from her seat.

“Perhaps we should call the Sheriff again first…?” Cal suggested. He looked at his mom, mouthing  _ you have to try to reach dad _ behind Viola’s back. .

“Yeah, I tried that, remember? She won’t even be able to report dad as missing for another twenty hours so I doubt she will come there looking for clues…” Viola said, still too mad at the Sheriff to consider calling her back again.

“Ok, so we’ll go… and mom, maybe you could call the Sheriff and see if you can convince her to take this seriously after the phone call? And tell her about the location of the phone… And oh, describe Sven’s car to her?” he said pointedly. He didn’t give a damn about the Sheriff at the moment, it was his father who needed the information, and he knew Lois would understand him. Perhaps they should call the Sheriff too, though… But that was a later problem.

*

They got out of the truck and took a look around the empty parking lot. The mall was closed and there were no cars in sight, not Sven’s car either, unfortunately.

“So, what exactly are we looking for?” Cal asked Viola.

“I don’t know… hopefully his phone, or perhaps there’s some other sign that he has been here…? Why don’t you look here, and I’ll go over there…?” Viola suggested and went to the other side of the lot.

Cal was just getting his phone out and call to see if Lois had been able to get a hold of Clark, when he heard the sound of screeching tires. He couldn’t believe he had missed the black van coming down the road, but he had been a bit distracted and he hadn’t given the sound any attention at first. It must have been following them from Smallville. And now, the van pulled up between them, and two masked men jumped out of it and ran towards Viola.

“Run Cal…” Viola shouted, and started to sprint away from the black van, with the two masked men at her heels. 

Cal ran as fast as he could in their direction, using human speed since they could see him, but it wasn’t fast enough. Moments before he reached them, one of the thugs managed to grab Viola from behind with two strong arms and started to pull her towards the car, kicking and screaming. 

Cal knocked the other guy to the ground and launched at the one holding Viola. He managed to pull her free and hoisted the masked man up into the air, ready to give him a good beating up. 

“Stay out of this kid, and you won’t get hurt… we just need the girl....” His companion was on his feet again. He hissed at Cal and aimed a gun at him. 

“Yeah, but you’re not getting her… Get out of here, right now, or…” Cal started growling.

“Or what? We’re armed and you’re just a kid… what are you going to do about it?” the thug mocked him.

And Cal realized he was right. There was nothing he could do at the moment, at least not without exposing himself to the masked men, and Viola. He also wasn’t sure he was completely bullet proof. He was much less sensitive to damage than normal people, and he healed quickly. But there were probably places they could shoot him that would hurt him or even kill him before he could heal if he was unlucky. When the other masked man pointed the gun at Cal, he thus let his companion down and held his hands up. He let them tie him back to back with Viola, while feeling her struggle and swear behind his back.

“What the hell do you want with me…?” Viola spat at the kidnappers, fury mixed with a bit of fear in her voice.

“Shut up for a while and you might live long enough to find out…” one of the men hissed at her, but Cal could hear the other one talking with someone on his cellphone. He hushed at Viola to be able to hear better, and when she got quiet they could both hear at least one end of the conversation.

“We have the girl, and her boyfriend….”

… 

“Yeah, but he barged in on us and tried to interfere, we’ll talk about what to do with him later…”

… 

“Tell the old man we have his daughter… We’ll stay here for now, but if he doesn’t tell us where to find the rocks, we’ll bring her over and he can watch us kill her…”

...

Cal heard from the answers his companion gave him that they were holding Sven at the old LexCorp plant. Obviously they were after meteor rocks and thought Sven was sitting on some hidden stash. Idiots. He tried desperately to think of what to do now. How could he stop them, and save Sven, without exposing himself? It would seem stupid to try to call for Superman too, since nobody knew he might be within hearing distance. He knew his dad would be heading here as soon as he came home anyway, so calling for him wasn’t much use. If he had to, he would expose himself to Viola of course, and if it couldn’t be helped to the thugs as well. He would just hope they could get J’ohn here before the Sheriff came to do a memory wipe. But Cal had no idea if he was even on the planet at the moment, and he knew exposing himself wouldn’t be popular with the League anyway. If he could only create some kind of distraction…

Suddenly, it hit him. The car… Right now, he really wished he had x-ray vision, so he could be sure nobody was in it. But he closed his eyes and listened carefully for a while. He could only hear four hearts beat. His own, Viola’s and the two masked men’s. They stood a bit on the side and talked quietly about what to do with Cal. He was sure they weren’t paying any attention to him at the moment, and luckily, they had decided to have their little conversation at a safe distance from their Van. At least he hoped so. Cal focused his heat vision with a silent prayer that it would end well, and at the same time as he heard the explosion, he tugged at the ropes and broke free. Before Viola had time to react, he super sped to the thugs, who stood with the backs turned to them staring at the burning car, and knocked them out from behind, before he sped back to Viola again.

“Hey, are you ok?” he said softly…

“Yeah, what the hell just happened?” She said, turning around and staring at the scene with eyes wide open.

“I don’t know… I think they were knocked out from the explosion. Let’s get rid of their guns and call the Sheriff…” he said quickly.

“But...how did you break free…?” She looked at the rope in her hands and raised her eyebrows at Cal.

“Eeeh, I guess the rope must have been broken. Or the knot wasn’t very strong? I kind of twitched when I heard the explosion, and suddenly my hands were free…” 

Suddenly they heard a wooshing sound, and Superman landed a couple of feet from them, staring for a moment between the car, the unconscious men on the ground, and Viola and Cal.

“I heard an explosion… What happened here? Are you kids alright?” Superman asked them, unable to hide the somewhat worried look on his face.

“Yeah, we’re fine… They tried to kidnap us… or rather her… “ Cal said, with a nod at Viola. “Luckily, their car somehow caught fire and they got distracted. I managed to pull us free from the ropes… I guess they were never boy scouts…” Cal blurted out, hoping it sounded credible. He could see his dad’s eyes narrow just slightly as he told him about the car. “Anyway, I guess they were knocked out from the blast…”

“Their car just happened to catch fire…? It was lucky that no one got hurt then…” he said with a stern look at Cal.  _ Oh crap, I’ll pay for this later… _ he thought. 

“Yeah… Funny, huh? I guess one of them must have hit the gas tank with a bullet or something....” Cal tried to sound innocent.

“Superman, I think some of their friends are holding my dad prisoner somewhere” Viola interrupted.

“They are at the old LexCorp plant…” Cal whispered under his breath and looked at his dad, who gave him a very small nod to signal that he had heard.

“Ok, I’ll take a look around. Will you kids call the Sheriff and wait here for her?” Superman asked, quickly tied the masked men up after destroying their weapons, and took to the skies.

“Wooow…” Viola said, and Cal smiled a little behind her back. It wasn’t an unusual reaction for people seeing Superman take off for the first time. It is one thing to see it on TV, another to actually witness a flying man in real life. 

*

It was quiet in the car as they drove to the hospital. They had stayed to give their statements to the Sheriff. After a little while, Superman had returned to assure them that he had indeed found Viola’s father, who was fine, but had been taken to the hospital for a check-up. 

Once the worst fright was gone, Viola started to think about the events. It was so obvious that something didn’t add up that it was almost comical, but she didn’t know how much she dared to confess to Cal that she had noticed. 

After today, she was almost certain he had some kind of power. Most likely, above average strength. She had tugged and pulled like crazy at the ropes with no results whatsoever, and he had managed to pull them both free as soon as everybody's attention was at the burning car. And the way he had lifted the kidnapper into the air… Sure, he was a big guy, but so was the thug, and it had seemed as if it hadn’t taken him much effort at all to hold him up like that. In fact, she was almost sure he could have thrown the man halfway to Metropolis, should he have wanted to. Somehow, she was certain she had never really been in any danger, and it had probably only been out of fear of exposing himself that Cal had let them tie him up in the first place. 

She also got the eerie feeling that he knew Superman somehow. Not that Viola had ever met the hero before, but she still didn’t think he would be treating some random kidnap victim like that. At first, he had seemed really worried, and then almost suspicious about their story. But in the end, he had left them alone to wait for the Sheriff without questioning if they could handle the situation. What if they had just bolted from the spot? Or if they had been involved with the thugs somehow? How could Superman be so sure they were to be trusted? But most of all, she had a feeling that there were a lot of non-verbal communication going on between Superman and Cal. Like stern looks being exchanged… And Cal hadn’t seemed surprised, or awed, at all to see him fly in… But if he had some kind of meteor power, it wasn’t unlikely that the Justice League had their eyes on him. Considering the percentage of infected people who went nuts, it was reasonable to take precautions, right? 

*

“Hey dad, are you ok?” Viola said softly as they entered his hospital room half an hour later. Cal remained behind her and felt a bit out of place. He didn’t know if Sven would prefer spending time alone with his daughter right now, or if he would be more eager to hear first hand from Cal what had actually happened to them during the afternoon. He was also a little nervous about the story he had made up, since he knew it didn’t quite add up. Sure, Viola hadn’t questioned him, but she had still been quite freaked out from being in the middle of it, and he suspected that she would be kind enough to let it slip even if she did see the evident plot holes. Like how they were “lucky” that the car suddenly exploded to create a bit of diversion and that the knot they had been tied with was so loose. 

But Sven either didn’t seem to notice anything strange about their explanations, or he didn’t want to question their luck. The thing he was most excited about discussion at the moment was actually being saved by Superman, which also made Cal feel a bit uncomfortable. It’s one thing to just omit information, or twist a story a bit, it’s harder to lie your girlfriend and her dad straight to their faces…

“I still can’t believe I was saved by Superman…” Sven said with an incredulous grin on his face. Like with Viola, once the fright was over, he seemed to think of the events of the day as yet another adventure to tell his grandchildren about some day. He had also claimed to have been through worse during his time working with Greenpeace. The only thing that worried him had been that they would go after Viola when he had claimed not to know of any secret stashes of blue meteor rock, which was what they evidently was after. 

“Yeah, lucky he was around Smallville today…” Cal said, trying to sound innocent.

“Is he often seen around here?” Viola asked.

“Eh, not really… I mean, he lives in Metropolis I think… Or, I guess nobody knows where he actually lives, but he usually works in Metropolis when there is no big disaster someplace else. So Smallville is not so far away I guess, but probably too far away for his super hearing. It’s known to have happened that he shows up here if something big is going on, but he must just have been in the neighborhood today...” Cal tried to explain, but getting the feeling himself that it sounded a bit confused.

“Yep, he said he was flying by on his way to help with a reported gas leak in Grandville and he heard an explosion” Sven agreed.

_ Good thinking there dad _ , Cal smiled to himself. He was sometimes impressed by the way his father could make up stuff out of nowhere. Usually, as a civilian, he didn’t have poker face enough to hide when he had eaten the last cookie in the jar, but it was as if one of his powers was Superman-related lies. Cal sure wished he could develop that power as well…

“So, have you ever met him before? It kind of seemed like he recognized you...” Viola asked Cal, curiously.

“Yeah… I’ve met him a couple of times. My parents write about him a lot, and once I met him at some gala at the Daily Planet, and once years ago at a crime scene dad was snooping around when I was tagging along with him to work.” Cal fed them what was actually a pre-fabricated story that was agreed upon in the Lane-Kent household in case anyone ever got the question and needed their stories to match. 

“But you’ve never been saved by him?” Viola continued.

“No, not really… not like that…”  _ Crap. Not like that!?  _ What the hell was he thinking. Major slip up. He had been saved like a gazillion times from him obviously, even if it was usually more innocent than kidnapping. But the pre-fabricated answer to this question was just supposed to be no. Only it was so damn hard to lie to Viola like that. The first lie wasn’t really a lie, since he had met Superman those two times, it was only omitting information about the fact that he was seeing him every other day as well…

“Not like that?” Viola parroted with her brows raised.

“I mean, not personally… We’ve all been saved by him, right? Like the whole world from the Apoklips once? Even if I wasn’t actually born back then…” he quickly added, quite proud of his cover up. Maybe he was developing the power of lying after all?

They discussed the events of the day a bit further and Cal had to listen to Sven and Viola discussing what Superman was really like, and he had to bite back a laugh several times. It was always amazing to him how his dad could be so intimidating to people as Superman. Sure, he was powerful and could get angry from time to time, but Cal knew he was really kind of a sap underneath it all. And he was not as cold and stern as his Superman-persona, when he got pissed off as Clark Kent, he was more emotional about it. As his reporter persona, he was a bit bumbling and insecure instead, and it fascinated Cal how he could pull those charades off. But mostly, it made him sad that so few people actually knew his father for who he really was, and he hoped Viola would be one of those who did soon. 

They left the hospital an hour later and drove back to the farm to tell his parents everything that had happened and eat dinner. Sven had to be kept overnight for observation at the hospital, even though the nurses had assured them there was no danger; he had just been a bit bruised and low glycemic from not eating since yesterday. Lois still didn’t think Viola should be left alone, and therefore had insisted she come over for dinner while they talked about what to do with her overnight. At first, Cal had thought Viola would protest and claim that she had no problem sleeping alone, now that the kidnappers had been arrested, but she had actually agreed that she would feel much safer if she had company. Cal knew that it was complicated to for them to have house guests overnight; if Superman was called out a lot it might get suspicious if she saw or heard Clark coming or leaving in the middle of the night. And even if he could theoretically take off through the window, Cal knew his dad wasn’t too comfortable having to play the bumbling Clark Kent all evening and morning long. Thus, when he suggested he could stay with Viola at her house, she did have a comfy couch in the living room for him to sleep on after all, they all agreed. He didn’t know if Viola would actually want him on the couch or not, but at the moment this wasn’t a discussion he felt he wanted to have in front of his parents, and luckily they didn’t question the assumption. His dad pulled him aside though, and told him he would have to use his bracelet, even if he slept on her couch, in case he would drift in his sleep and she would walk in on him doing it. 

“I don’t think sleeping the whole night with your blue k bracelet on is something you should do on a regular basis Cal” Clark told him “...but I talked to Emil, and it probably won’t hurt to do it on occasion” Clark gave his son a meaningful look and Cal understood it to mean “don’t get used to sleepovers…”. He sighed, but it wasn’t something he wanted to discuss at the moment. Right now, he was just glad he didn’t have to leave Viola alone tonight.


	9. The first time, and some others...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The poor, sexually frustrated teenagers finally score. Phew... And also, we get some insight into the heads of Will and Ellen and Viola comes to some insights regarding Cal's secret.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, as you might understand from the chapter title, this is mostly about sex. I have tried to mark the most explicit parts between *** and you shouldn't lose anything important plot by skipping over those if you wish.

The sun was already starting to set when they got back to Viola’s house, and the whole living room was filled with a warm, red light from outside when they stepped inside. Viola was eager to wash both the sweat and the stress off so she went into the shower while Cal sat on her bed, reading an outdoor magazine that he found on the bedside table. She enjoyed the warm water running down her back and neck, feeling the last of the adrenaline leaving her body, instantly being replaced with a twinge of excitement in her chest and a vague flutter in her belly. It had been a terrible day, yes. But it was all over now, and she was not the kind of person to dwell on what could have been or to let the past ruin the present. And her present situation was such that she was going to have the whole night alone with her hot boyfriend. Her really hot boyfriend. Finally. She knew there was a saying in her dad’s home country that all evil brings something good along with it, and this was definitely going to be good. 

She rinsed the conditioner out of her hair and turned off the water, carefully starting to twist her hair to press some of the water out. She had a sudden urge to just call out for Cal and drag him into the shower with her, but she wasn’t sure if that would be what he wanted. He would probably have some idea about doing everything slow and romantic their first night together. Not that she minded slow and romantic, especially not with Cal. But she didn’t know if she would have the patience right now. They had been going on with what she would consider foreplay for months now, and she was really yearning to finally be with him fully. She licked her lips in anticipation and felt her body starting to get aroused just by thinking about it. 

She quickly toweled herself dry and put a small dot of perfume behind her ears. It was a musky scent of vanilla and spices that she hoped would get him in the right mood. Although, she doubted she would have a problem with that to start with. He usually had just as hard a time keeping his hands off her as she had with him… She almost expected him to already be naked in her bed, waiting for her. But instead she was a bit disappointed to find him reading, fully dressed, and hardly even seeming to realize that she was standing there half naked. And to make matters worse, he didn’t even get the hint when she suggested it was getting close to bedtime. 

“I  _ can _ sleep on the couch in the living room if you want me to? “ Cal suggested. 

The truth was that he was very much aware of the beautiful girl standing in the doorway wrapped in only a towel. But he was trying hard to ignore her; he didn’t want Viola to think he was trying to take advantage of the situation tonight. 

“Why on earth would I want that…?” she asked incredulously.

“Eeeh… I mean, you’ve been through a lot today and you must still be scared, right? I didn’t want to assume...” 

“Yeah, I mean, I was a bit freaked out. Or still am. But I don’t scare that easily, you know? And anyway, you are in a much better position to give me comfort if you are in my bed...” she said, voice turning a bit low and husky towards the end. 

Cal had meant to give her some kind of reply to that, but all he could manage was a low grunt when she threw away the magazine he was reading, captured his lips with hers and pulled him close in a deep kiss, tongues and teeth and lips tangled together. He suddenly felt both excited and extremely nervous. He probably should have seen this coming, but he had honestly thought that she was just scared when she had agreed with his parents that she shouldn’t be alone tonight. Evidently, she was a good actress. He would also have thought that sex was the last thing on her mind on a day like this. Evidently, he had been wrong about that too. And as much as he wanted to be with her, it didn’t change the fact that he felt a bit nervous. He wanted it to be perfect, and he had imagined it a bit more romantic in his mind. Like making her a home cooked, candle lit, dinner first or something. But he also didn’t know when that perfect moment would ever present itself, and his plans faded away as the haze of desire swept over his brain when she pushed him down on the bed and started to undress him.

“I’m just wearing this, so it seems a bit unfair that you have all these clothes on…” she whispered in his ear as she pulled off his t-shirt and quickly went for his belt. She looked so incredibly beautiful and sexy where she sat, straddled over him, with only the towel wrapped around her curvy body. He swallowed hard and resisted the urge to just pull it off. But he needed a moment to think. If he didn’t stop this now, there was no going back, and he wasn’t sure they would be completely happy about it tomorrow. 

“Are...are you sure about this Vi?” he asked her, holding her hands still for a moment.

“God, Cal. Why wouldn’t I be? Haven’t we been working our way towards this for ages? Now we finally have the opportunity… Don’t tell me you have some fear-of-losing-control issue going on again or something?”

“No, it’s not that…”

“So, what’s the problem?” 

“I just don’t want to take advantage of you now that you’re vulnerable…” he tried.

Viola laughed and rolled off him and lay down by his side on the bed, still stroking his bare arms and chest. She smiled a twisted smile.

“You know, I would be more worried about me trying to take advantage of you, actually… Come on Cal, you know I want to be with you. If you’re hesitating for some reason just tell me so…”

“No, I mean. I do want to be with you, believe me... “

“But?”

“You’re going to think it’s stupid…”

“Probably, but tell me anyway... “

“Well, it’s our first time together, and I just imagined it would be a bit more… I don’t know… romantic? Planned?”

Viola just raised her eyebrows, hoping he would go on to say something that she could actually respond to without ending up insulting him for being such a softie. When she didn’t say anything, he sighed and realized it would be best to just confess...

“I guess you probably realize that it’s not just my first time with you… I’ve never been with anyone like that before… so I guess I’m kind of nervous… And I wanted to make sure it’s a good memory for both of us.” he flushed a little, realizing she would probably think he was an idiot. He just hoped she wouldn’t think it was a total turn off that he was being so insecure. When she finally answered, he could see her lips twitching slightly, like she was fighting the urge to laugh.

“Oh, I see. It’s only natural to be nervous, you know. And I’m sure your idea to sky rocket the expectations by planning a full blown romantic evening with roses, a bottle of champagne and some candles in the bedroom would be just the thing to do if you need to take the pressure off...” she managed to say with a reasonably straight face, and masked the smile that she couldn’t shake by nuzzling into his neck and kissing him again.

Cal’s lips started to twitch too… She was right, of course. God, she was truly an amazing girl. And she was all his; she wanted him and they had the whole night to themselves… It could hardly be more perfect than this.

“I’m being an idiot, right?” he said and smiled apologetically.

“Just shut up and make love to me, will you?” she said and pressed her lips to his again. He responded eagerly and lost himself in her sweet kisses for a while. He was just so wrapped up in the haze he almost didn’t even notice that she had managed to free him from his jeans and socks somehow between the kisses. 

“We’ll have to get some protection…” he panted as they broke apart gasping for air after a while. 

“Don’t worry, I’m on the pill…” she said, and captured his lips again. But although she didn’t want to ruin the moment by joking, she couldn’t stop herself from teasing him a bit and she continued “...you know, whereas your innocent little brain may be completely caught off guard, my criminal mastermind has actually been plotting to seduce you for a while now…” 

He smiled and wrapped his arms around her, rolling her over so he was on top. This girl was driving him crazy in so many ways… But right now he was grateful for her wicked humor. For some reason, a little teasing was exactly what he needed to forget that he was nervous and just give in to the passion. 

“God, Viola. What am I going to do with you…?” he shook his head a little at her.

“I’m sure you’ll be able to think about something…” she said flirtily and put her arms around his neck.

***

Even if he was more turned on than he had ever been, he still managed to keep his head straight for a little while. He had no idea how long he would be able to last the first time. He knew that some guys really had trouble staying in control. Somehow, he hoped that all the training controlling his heat vision and other powers would help him out a bit, but he realized this would be different. Viola would probably understand and let him make it up to her later if it was too quick. But still, he really wanted her to enjoy her first time with him as well and he reckoned the best way to do it was to push her almost to the edge of climax before he actually entered her. 

She reached down to stroke his length, but he pushed her hands away and pinned them over her head. She seemed to like that he was taking control and squirmed under him as he kissed her deeply. He started trailing kisses all over her torso, down via her bellybutton and towards her legs, but teasingly avoiding her breasts. It didn’t take him long to make a whimpering mess out of her beneath him on the bed. 

“God, you’re driving me crazy here…” she whispered, her voice raw and husky. She knew what he was trying to do, and she didn’t mind at all. Every kiss he gave her sent a small pulse of electricity surging through her body and right into her core. It felt like her whole body throbbed and ached for him to fill her and she clawed her fingers into his back trying to pull him towards her entrance. Instead, he continued to massage her nipples with his tongue while he fingered her eagerly. She was climbing towards the edge, but she wanted him inside first. She pulled gently at his hand to try to give him the message.

“Please, I’m so close… I want you now…” she mumbled and he finally, mercifully, obliged and climbed on top of her to position himself.

Cal took a deep breath and slowly started to push himself inside, inch by inch. He was fighting hard not to lose his self control and just start thrusting like mad, which was what his instincts told him to do. But he really wanted this to last more than two seconds. He realized at once it was going to be difficult, it was like no other feeling he had ever experienced to be completely surrounded by her tight, warm, body. 

“Oh god” he moaned breathlessly and threw his head back, trying to keep his focus while she started to move eagerly under him.

“Oh, yeah… I know… told you so” she grunted and arched her body to get closer to him. How the hell did she have the awareness to be cocky at a time like this? Fuck..

“Please… stop...moving…” he whispered in her ear. “You have to give me a minute if you want this to last…” he mumbled and swallowed hard. He tried desperately to focus on anything other than the sweet pressure from her body squeezing him, and he slowly felt the aching urge to thrust lighten just a little, and his pounding heart slow down just a bit. He drew a breath and bent down to kiss her, holding his body still for a couple of seconds more before he felt safe to slowly start moving inside of her. 

Viola wrapped her legs around his back and pushed him tighter into her body. It didn’t take long before he realized he couldn’t hold back any longer and he tried to pause again and breath, but Viola wasn’t having any of it. She clawed her nails into his back and groaned.

“Please, don’t stop… so close…” she panted in his ear, and this was his undoing. He picked up the pace and just barely managed to keep it together long enough for them to climax together. 

Well, it was probably not going to go down in history as the longest round of sex ever, but at least he had managed to make Viola come, which meant that it at least hadn’t been a disaster as far as first times went. 

“Oh, God Vi. That was so amazing…” Cal sighed as he rolled off her and lay sprawled on his back with a silly grin on his face. 

“Yeah, I knew you would come around to my way of seeing things…” 

Viola couldn’t stop herself from kissing his cheek and smiling an equally silly smile back at him. She supported herself on one elbow and stroked his tousled hair back from his face with her other hand. His expression was a mix of pure satisfaction and utter surprise, like he couldn’t believe what had just happened. It was so cute, she had to bite her lip to stop herself from laughing. 

“So, was it ok for you too… I mean…” he started asking her after a while, but she hit him in the head, lovingly.

“Stop fishing for compliments, I think you noticed that I enjoyed it..” she laughed at him.

“Yeah, I wasn’t saying you weren’t... I just meant that I have nothing to compare it with and since I’m not your first, you kind of do, so… Although, I can’t imagine it could possibly get any better…”

“Don’t worry. It  _ was _ amazing. I agree… I don’t know if it gets any better than that, but I’m willing to keep trying, you know…” she smiled a lopsided smile and raised one eyebrow. Sure, it had been over fairly quickly, but goddamn, had it felt amazing to finally feel him deep inside of her. It was like if they were made for eachother, or at least, as if he was made for her. Jesus, that perfect specimen of a man...

“Hm, I think I can live with putting my theory to test a couple of times more before we fall asleep…” he suggested slyly and started planting kisses on her neck and over her collarbones and shoulders.

“Getting greedy now, are you?” she smiled at him again and pulled herself on top of him, surprised to notice that he was already getting hard again.

“And I think we should both be glad you weren’t my first Cal…” she continued, half smiling at him.

“What? Why?” he pushed her away a couple of inches and narrowed his eyes suspiciously.

“Well… I guess you already know this by the way guys always keep comparing stuff, but you are kind of… hrm… well-equipped, to say the least... which would probably have hurt pretty badly if it was my first time. And with the impressive stamina you also seem to possess, you would have killed me before our first night together was over…” 

“Hey, first you seduce me and use your evil mastermind to lure me into your bed, and now you are complaining that I want more…” 

“I’m not complaining… just shut up and kiss me…” she whispered in his ear and laughed.

***

They made love once more before falling asleep, arms wrapped around each other. It was more slow and sweet than the first time, but just as wonderful. Still, none of them had really had enough. But the day had been long and hard, and they were both mentally exhausted, so it would have to wait until the morning. 

Regardless of the events of the previous day, Cal had never felt so happy as when he woke up and felt Violas warm, naked body spooning him. He turned around and just watched her sleep for a long while. She was so beautiful where she lay peacefully with her long hair spreading out over the pillow, the first rays of morning sun dancing over her skin. He was still amazed about the way her hair seemed to change color every time the light hit it from a different angle. He didn’t mean to wake her up, but he couldn’t stop himself from lightly tracing his fingers over her face and the soft curves of her body. She smiled and mumbled something in in her sleep and Cal felt his chest exploding with warmth and joy that this wonderful creature was his. He nuzzled into her hair and slowly started stroking her back, when he suddenly noticed the rhythm of her breath changing and her lips were seeking his although her eyes were still closed. None of them said anything, fearing to spoil the magic of the moment, as the kisses deepened. 

“That was one hell of a ‘good morning’…” Viola said softly when they reluctantly broke apart afterwards.

“Mmhhmmm…” Cal murmured back, still too high on the endorphins of love making to form a coherent sentence.

“I could get used to this, you know….” she continued.

“Yeah, me too…” he grinned back at her.

“So do you think your folks will let you stay the night from now on? My dad wouldn’t mind...”

“I don’t know… Tonight was kind of a special deal. I don’t know if they would be ok with it on a regular basis. At least not until...” he hesitated. Now he had really painted himself into a corner, trust his brain to just completely fail because of a little sex. But luckily, Viola didn’t push the matter. Cal gathered that she knew what he had been about to say, and she was amazing enough to just let it slide and changed the subject.

“So perhaps we should take a shower before breakfast, huh?” she smiled at him and pulled him up from the bed. 

Cal was tempted to turn off his blue k bracelet, just to see if he could stay in control. And to be able to hold Viola up without any effort while taking her in shower. That was a scene that had been figuring in his wettest dreams… In the end, he decided to play it safe. He didn’t want to screw things up now that it was just getting good. Luckily, he was a big and strong guy even without superpowers… She seemed just as turned on as he did from this idea, and they collapsed together on the bathroom floor afterwards.

“Damn, now I really need breakfast before you come within ten feet of me again, or I’m going to faint soon…” Viola sighed when they sat together on the floor, the water still pouring down on them. 

“Mmm..hmmm… “ he murmured, kissing her softly and pulling her to her feet again. “Why don’t you take your time to dry your hair and whatever it is girls always do in the bathroom and I’ll go fix us something to eat, ok?”

“Hmpf, I bet I could shower and get dressed quicker than you can…” she muttered, sounding a bit insulted. 

“Sure you could,” he said, although he very, very much doubted that “but as I’m offering to fix you breakfast, so it would be stupid of you to prove it today of all days…” he smiled back at her.

*

When Viola walked down the stairs, she saw Cal standing in the small kitchen flipping pancakes in a seemingly expert manner. The wonderful smell of vanilla and blueberries mixed with the scent of coffee brewing on the counter. He was wearing jeans and a plain t-shirt and his hair was still a bit moist from the shower earlier. She felt her heart stop for just a second. It was truly unbelievable how he could have this effect on her. They just spent the whole night together, but the sight of him making breakfast still made her heart pound a little quicker. She snuck up on him from behind and wrapped her arms around his waist.

“Hi handsome… Mmm, that smells great.” she said and kissed him gently on the neck.

“Hey, I thought you wanted to keep your distance until you had breakfast?” he smiled and slid the pancake onto a plate before melting a bit of butter in the pan and pouring in some more of the batter.

“Sorry, couldn’t resist the temptation. But luckily the breakfast looks pretty delicious too, so I think I will be able to keep my focus off you for a while.” she laughed.

“Coffee?” he reached her a large mug of coffee and she sat down at the table.

“So, what’s the catch?” Viola asked between bites of pancake.

“Huh?”

“So I already knew you were handsome, and that you have a gorgeous body. Not to mention that I also happen to like your personality…” she smiled a twisted smile and winked, her eyes full of mischievous sparkles “... yesterday I also found out you are an amazing lover and now you are spoiling me with this delicious breakfast... There has to be a catch, right?”

She was just trying to keep it light while letting him know how much she loved him. But somehow he didn’t seem too happy about the praise. He sat silent for a while, and Viola started to get a bit worried. What had upset him? Was he uncomfortable taking all of her compliments like that? Or did he think she was fishing for the same from him, and he didn’t know what to say. She walked across the table and bent down to wrap her arms around his neck again.

“Hey, I was kidding, you know… Sorry if I made you uncomfortable...” she said softly and kissed him behind his ear.

“I know you were. But what if you are right?”

“I know I’m right… you are the best boyfriend ever…” 

“No, I meant that there is a catch…”

“Hey, come on… talk to me Cal. What’s bugging you? Is it about the thing you can’t tell me…?”

She sat down across his lap, straddling him with her legs and putting her arms around his neck in what she hoped was a comforting way. He wrapped his arms around her waist and leaned his head against her shoulder. Something was obviously bothering him, and Viola wished so badly they could just talk about it. Damn his secrets and lies. She just felt it was so unnecessary, feeling certain that whatever it was wouldn’t be as bad as he made it seem. She didn’t care if he had some kind of meteor power or whatever; she knew he wasn’t one of those who would crack from it. He was a good and smart person.

“Yeah… “ he said finally. He was hesitating before he continued, but when she caught his eyes with hers and smiled a reassuring smile, he finally did. “I’m just scared it will change everything when you find out… and that you will be disappointed. Or angry. That you will leave me.”

“Cal, don’t worry. That’s not going to happen, I promise… I won’t leave you because of whatever secret you are hiding...”

“But how can you say that without knowing what it is?”

“Two reasons. First, I know Will accepts it, and I trust his judgement. It can’t be too bad if he’s ok with it. And I met your family and friends and they all seem like good people…” she hesitated for a while, trying to pluck up the courage to say what she wanted to say next.

“And this isn’t how I had planned to tell you this Cal, but the second reason is that I love you. I have never felt like this about anyone before. Not even close. And I can’t think of anything you could tell me that would change that… Even if it did turn out you are an evil crime boss, I would probably have to lock myself up to keep my hands off you...”

Cal felt his heart explode with a weird mix of love and fear when Viola told him that she loved him. Part of him was incredibly happy she felt the same way he did. But he was also afraid. He remembered telling his father that he wanted to let Viola in on his secret before their relationship went too far. What if it already had? True, it was not like they were engaged or anything, but emotionally, they were both deeply committed. And they had slept together, which was kind of a big deal for him, even if she saw it as “just sex”. He knew he would be devastated if she wanted to leave once she found out about him…

“I love you too Viola. A lot.” he said and smiled while he gave her a soft kiss on the lips and squeezed her tighter against his body.

“But don’t you see? This is exactly what I’m worried about?” he continued.

“Nope, you lost me there. I can’t see the problem…”

“I’ve been thinking about this for a while. And to be honest, it’s one of the reasons I hesitated a bit to be intimate with you like this… The thing is that… you know what you said about Will? “

“Yeah…?”

“I don’t think you will stop loving me, or think less of me, when you know everything about me. I’m just not sure if you’ll want to be in a relationship with me. At least not a long term, serious relationship. I realized it’s different than just being my friend... And that’s why I always meant to tell you before things got too far. I wanted to tell you before we were both too deep in, so to speak. But it all happened so quickly… and here we are, without you even knowing what you are getting yourself into. I feel like I’m deceiving you…”

Viola opened her mouth to object, but Cal just went on. It seemed like he had been keeping this inside of him for quite some time, and once the floodgates were opened, it all came pouring out of him.

“And now that we’re sleeping together… I know you’re on the pill, but no birth control is one hundred percent safe you know? It would be so completely irresponsible of me if I got you pregnant and you wouldn’t even know what that means…”

“Hey, stop it now…” she finally interrupted him. “You are making too big a deal out of this Cal. First of all, I already knew you were hiding something and it was my choice to get involved with you anyway. I don’t think I will want to leave you, I already know it somehow means being with you would mean lying and hiding things from others, and although I don’t like that, I would probably do it for you. And if not, we’ll address it when that day comes. Every relationship has uncertainties. There are never any guarantees, you know. So don’t you dare feeling like you have somehow tricked me into this Cal… And for your other worry - birth control pills are actually really safe if you don’t miss taking them. And I promise I will be extremely careful not to, ok? I really don’t want to get pregnant at this point in my life either, secrets or no secrets…”

Cal didn’t know how to respond to that, so he just kissed her. He was still a bit worried, and he didn’t feel totally ok with the secret standing between them, but he felt a lot better now that they talked about it. And once the worrying stopped a bit, the joy of her telling him she loved him came bubbling up to the surface. The kiss became deeper and more passionate, and it was not long before they both had forgotten about their breakfast. 

*

In a way, it was lucky that they had waited until right before a school break before making love for the first time, because once they had started, it turned out to be really hard to stop. Once the threshold was crossed, and he wasn’t scared anymore, he seemed to be every bit as insatiable as she was. She had no idea how they would make it through the days once school started again… Much to Viola’s chagrin, Cal wasn’t allowed to spend the nights once Sven was home from the hospital, but since he had to work, they had most of the days together anyway. When Ellen got back from wherever she had been hiding, she unfortunately demanded their attention too, although she would let them get away with at least a few hours of alone time each day. Naturally, she realized exactly what was happening when she left, after she had heard about the sleepover, but she took mercy on them anyway.

Will was coming home towards the end of the week, and Viola suggested that they could all go on a hiking trip together, since hers with her dad had been cancelled. This, it turned out, was evidently ok with Cal’s parents, especially since they would be sleeping in two tents, a girl-tent and a boy-tent. Or, at least, that was what she had let his parents believe. Not that she thought they really believed it, they just seemed to be more comfortable pretending. 

“So do your parents still think we’re not sleeping together? Ellen has definitely figured it out anyway.” Viola asked Cal as they walked up the hillside, at a bit of a distance from the others. The spring had been unusually mild and the break was later than other years due to how Easter fell, and thus, they could actually walk in shorts and t-shirt through the freshly green landscape. They nights were still cold, though, so they had brought thick sleeping bags and warm clothes. Luckily, Viola and Sven had a lot of equipment to lend the others, who weren’t very skilled hikers.

“No, they definitely know… I told them. I wasn’t going to lie about it...” Cal smiled at her.

“So why won’t they let you sleep over? It’s stupid… Do they think they can stop it? Or is it some facade they want to keep up?” she huffed. 

“No, it’s not like that… it’s one of those things you know… Sorry. I think they will be ok with it sometimes, but not on a regular basis yet…” he answered, a bit uncomfortable. There was really no good explanation or lie he could tell that would cover up for this. He just had to hope that she would accept the non-excuse. 

“Hmpf… “ she mumbled. “So what about tonight? Do you think Will and Ellen will let us share a tent...? Or will they give us a hard time about it?” she asked.

“Oh, they will definitely give us a hard time, but in the end, they will give in, I’m sure…”

“Good… I’ve never done it in a tent before... “ she grinned at him.

“Neither have I” he laughed back. 

“Obviously…”

*

Indeed, the switching of tents had come at a prize. Naturally, there was some ridicule, insinuations and discussion of theories about how far away Ellen and Will would have to put up their tent in order to be able to sleep. When Cal had offered to do her chores for a week if she would just shut up and go along with it, Ellen had caved. Later she excused herself to Viola.

“You know, it’s nothing personal towards you. It’s just this thing twins have to do to each other. If there is even a small chance to negotiate about the chores, it has to be taken. It’s kind of a physical principle that cannot be broken, in line with the laws of entropy or something…”

Will didn’t really mind the switch. Even if he was over any feelings he had once had for Cal, the guy was still undeniably hot and there was no need to be unnecessarily tortured by watching him shirtless, or worse. Besides, he always had a good time chatting with Ellen, and he did think Cal deserved his time with Viola. His friend had been through a lot to be able to be with her after all.

After eating, they made a fire and roasted marshmallows over it, and they sat talking for quite a long time, about everything from the events of the week, with the kidnapping, to what would happen next year when they were out of High School. Finally, it was getting a bit cold outside, even sitting around the sparkling fire, and they decided that it was time to go to sleep.

“You know I will have to sleep with my blue k on so I won’t float in my sleep… so I’m counting on you to keep an ear out for any wild animals or stuff like that…” Cal instructed Ellen before she crawled into her tent. 

“Yeah, but there may be other stuff I would rather not hear…” she cringed at the thought.

“Can’t you just block us out, but not the sounds of the forest?”

“I don’t know…”

“Ok, but as long as the fire is burning, we won’t have any animals attacking us… I promise, we’ll go to sleep soon too, ok? It will be too cold for Viola outside of the sleeping bag soon anyway…”

*

“So how does the super hearing work… you can hear them if you want to, right?” Will asked Ellen as they lay in their sleeping bags, talking. She made a face and nodded. “But you can block it out, right? Or do you always hear everything?” 

“No, normally, I have to focus to use the super hearing, but I’m scared that somehow my subconscious will register any weird sounds or elevated heart rates as danger and kick in… It happened a couple of times with mom and dad in the beginning, before my brain learned the difference between the good “Oh Gods”, accompanied by pounding hearts, and the bad ones.” she sniggered a bit at this and Will did too “And anyway, when dad’s home, it’s if my super hearing automatically shuts down. It’s like I trust him more than myself… But I don’t know how it is with Cal, I mean, I don’t think they ever did it at our place… at least not while anyone was home...”

At that moment, a distinct moaning noise broke the silence of the night around them and Ellen made a pained face again.

“Yeah, well that wasn’t your super hearing kicking in…” Will scoffed. “Anyone within a mile’s radius could hear that...”

“Can you be a bit louder, I don’t think anyone can hear you in Metropolis…” Ellen shouted out into the night and giggled. 

“Can I confess something?” she asked, a bit embarrassed.

“Sure”

“I mean, I’m really happy for Cal...and for Vi too. I really love her and I can see how happy they both are… But sometimes it’s hard not to feel a bit left out, you know? Not that I’m jealous, exactly. But still. Everything was easier when we were all just friends…” 

“I can understand what you mean. It’s got to be a bit tough that he’s dating your best friend…” 

“Yeah… I mean, if it wasn’t Cal, I would be all for her sharing any juicy details. It would be fun to talk about her boyfriend with my best friend, right? But since she’s dating my brother it’s all a bit awkward. And I never know if they really want to hang out with me, or if they’d rather just that I left so they can get naked, you know…” she sighed a bit, and felt that it was a bit petty of her to feel like this.

“I know what you mean, but they will come out of this phase of blind infatuation someday… they have to, right? Or we will just have to kill them…” Will smiled. 

“I guess… It would probably feel better if I could ever find someone too… Right now, I can’t really see what’s so great about making out all the time. Sure, it can be fun at a party, but then you’ve sort of done it, right?” Ellen said.

“But you’ve never really been in love, right?” Will just stated.

“Guess not… have you?” she asked, although she suspected she knew the answer to that question.

“Nothing that’s ever been returned anyway” Will said with a shrug, and Ellen dropped the subject. She knew, he knew, she knew, but they never talked about it. And she was pretty sure he was over him anyway, so there was no point in dragging up old wounds. 

“I think it will be easier once we come to Metropolis, right? The odds of either of us finding someone in Smallville was never good. Cal just got lucky…” she smiled.

“I hope so. I just hope I get in to Met U. And that I will get the financial aid…”

*

At the same time, in a tent not far away, Cal and Viola was trying to figure out the best way to make love in a very small space, without breaking anything and without being too loud. It was not the most romantic setting, nor the most comfortable, for sure; but at least they were together, and it wasn’t like they were going to abandon the project without a serious effort.

“Do you think they can hear us…?” Viola whispered, giggling a bit.

“Probably, let’s just hope they are not listening too carefully… I promised Ellen everything will be quiet when the fire goes out though, so they are probably talking until then.” Cal said reassuringly, while he trailed kisses down Viola’s neck. He didn’t mind the lack of privacy too much. He was kind of used to living with two persons who could hear every word you said in your sleep or to your friends on the phone. Who could hear every word of every film you saw or every involuntary sound you ever made trying to get yourself off in the shower or whatever. Luckily, it was mutual, and they usually did their best to block things like that out… they way Viola was moaning as his mouth reached her hard nipples, there was probably no need for super hearing though, and sure enough, Ellen was shouting at them from her tent five seconds later. 

“Oh, bugger…” Viola giggled. “I just can’t seem to shut up. Sorry…” she whispered. 

“I guess I’ll have to find a way to keep you quiet…” Cal whispered back with a mischievous grin and closed his lips on hers, pushing his tongue into her mouth. He decided he would keep kissing her the whole time, until she climaxed and beyond. That was the only way to shut her up, and he felt remarkably turned on by the challenge. 

***

He refused to break the kiss even when he pushed his pants down, and she had to help him with her feet. He had already gotten rid of hers long ago, and now he just pushed her panties to the side and started to carefully massaging her sensitive spot above. She whimpered into his mouth and tried to throw her head back, but he held her lips between his, swallowing any sounds she was making. She took his throbbing erection in her hands, stroking him eagerly while the kiss continued endlessly. He was getting impatient now, and he could feel she was just as ready as he was when he pushed two fingers into her and she started wiggling violently against him. She struggled to get rid of her panties, and tried to pull away from him for a second, but his will was as rock hard as a certain body part right now, and he refused to let her break the kiss. Instead, he fisted her panties and ripped them off, making her mewl with a mix of excitement and annoyance. 

He almost managed to keep the lip lock between them all the way through, even as Viola climaxed around him, but when he got close to his own release he had to bite his own lip to keep himself from screaming out loud.

“So you decided to let me breathe, huh?” she smiled at him, face flushed and lips swollen from his violent kisses as he panted heavily and collapsed on top of her. But he just rolled over on his back with her on top again and grunted back, kissing her softly once more. 

“Are you going to go out to the back packs and get me a new pair of panties?” she asked him in a challenging voice after a while.

“Nope, you won’t need them… I’m not done with you yet… We still have time for another round before the fire is out, and then I’m going to fall asleep still being inside you…” he said matter of factly.

“Then we’ll have to do it inside the sleeping bags, or I’ll freeze to death tonight… Luckily they can be zipped together, or there wouldn’t be room for both of us...” she giggled.

“Yeah, well, I’ve never done it inside a sleeping bag before, so I’m up for the challenge…”

She laughed at him again. “I can’t believe I’ve managed to turn you from an innocent farm boy to a wicked sex addict in less than a week…” she said, but kissed him affectionately again.

“I think it’s some kind of gift… or it’s just because I love you so much…” he whispered, stroking the hair out of her face lovingly.

“Sap…”

***

When Viola woke up, Cal was still sleeping heavily at her side. The first rays of morning light were sifting through the canvas and she let out a small sigh and turned around to stroke his peaceful face. The air was still chilly, and her breath was visible as puff of white steam against the sun. She had a vague memory of the dream she just woke up from. It had started out as a typical sex dream, unsurprisingly, considering how she had fallen asleep. She had been riding him, not in the tent, but somewhere in the middle of the woods. When she was approaching her climax, he was suddenly shouting that she had to stop, because he couldn’t control it anymore, and in a flash of blue light, he had turned into some kind of animal. That had been what had woken her up in the first place, but she didn’t feel scared, and the memories of the dream weren’t as vivid as when one wakes up from a nightmare. It had only been strange. She thought about the blue light, and suddenly, she remembered something. She heaved herself up on one elbow and looked over his body to his left arm. Sure enough, there was a small, blue pearl visible on his bracelet. 

She dropped her head back down on the hard sleeping mat - she had no idea what had become of her pillow at the moment, she had woken up on Cal’s right arm. Sometimes they say you can access information that is hidden somewhere deep in the mind, when being in a state somewhere between consciousness and sleep. This seemed to be true for Viola, because several dots were connecting in her brain at that very moment. The bracelet was the key to all of his weird behavior. Somehow, the blue rock could be dangerous to him, that’s why he didn’t want her to expose him to her necklace. But perhaps, in small amounts, it could control whatever problem or power he had. Or give him some kind of power. She wasn’t sure, but she leaned towards the former. Perhaps he needed to stay exposed to it to both sleep with her and sleep beside her. It would make sense if his meteor power was, as she suspected, some kind of super strength. Perhaps he couldn’t really control it and he was afraid to hurt her. That would be a reasonable explanation to why his parents wouldn’t let him stay the night - if it meant he had to do something to himself that could hurt him in the long run. She felt a bit disappointed though. If this was true, maybe he could never stay the night with her on a regular basis. What if they ever wanted to move in together or something? Would they have to have separate bedrooms? She hoped there was a better solution to whatever problem he had than the bracelet if that was the case… Or she could be wrong, naturally. It was all just speculation at this point...

She suddenly realized something else. Ellen’s weird alcohol related behavior was also connected to the bracelet. The memory of that first night she got to know Cal popped up into her memory. When he had accused her of drinking and said it could be dangerous, she had tried to hide her left wrist behind her back. So maybe having the power was dangerous in combination with alcohol? Could she lose control over it if she hadn’t exposed her blue pearl? Viola had never really confirmed that she had one, but she didn’t doubt it anymore. It didn’t quite add up though, it didn’t explain why she sometimes seemed to be able to drink unlimited amounts of alcohol without actually getting drunk, but Viola felt she was definitely on to something. Sure, she had promised not to dig, but she couldn’t help herself from at least keeping an eye out. That wasn’t a crime, right? And she was going to keep one on their bracelets from now on.

***

In that very moment, Cal rolled over in his sleep and she could feel he was probably dreaming about her too. Or at least she hoped so, from the state of his bodily reactions, and she felt herself getting aroused when his erection pressed against her belly. Time to wake him up with a little good morning surprise, in other words. 

She hoped the others were still asleep, as she gently rolled him over on his back and straddled him. She rubbed herself against his hardness, and got even more turned on when he moaned in his sleep, and slowly started waking up. He had the cutest expression ever on his face when he blinked at her in surprise, eyes hazy with sleep and arousal alike. She rubbed his erection through her wetness a couple of times, and positioned herself to let him slide inside. She rode him hard and quick, and she noticed he tried to slow her down, probably he was close too and wanted it to last longer, but she wouldn’t have it. Instead she grinded herself hard against him, in a half-sitting position, holding his hands for support. When she bent down to kiss him, the added friction of his body against her sensitive spot undid her, and she climaxed, biting down on his shoulder not to cry out loud. She felt him starting to twitch inside of her, and he gripped her hips and rocked her a couple of more times against his body before he came and collapsed under her too _ . _

_ *** _

“Now,  _ that’s _ a hell of a good morning…” he panted into her ear as she fell down on top of him.

“Yeah, sorry… you were kind of hard, and I couldn’t resist… I feel like I almost assaulted you… you’re not mad, are you?” she asked, although she was pretty sure the answer was no.

“Are you crazy? You can get my written consent to assault me like that whenever you feel it’s convenient for you…” he said, giving her a mischievous grin. 

“Have I ever told you that I love you?” he added after a couple of seconds.

“Not today…” she said, smiling.

“Well, I do…” he whispered and kissed her. “Very, very much…” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have to admit I did some minor re-writes of this chapter, or mostly, I shortened it. It's probably still a bit cringe worthy, as I'm not a very skilled smut writer, but it was really bad before, I promise. Like, so terribly cliché. Ha ha. But still, I think they deserved a bit of release the poor things. And also, I wanted to show that first times aren't always as amazing and romantic as they make it seem in some fics - it tend to be too short, messy and generally a bit awkward in my experience... although luckily the kids here are very much in love, so that probably helped.


	10. The mystery caller

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which a mysterious phone call upsets the Lane-Kent household, and Cal makes a very bad decision. Like, come on man, haven't you ever read a romance novel in your life?

As the summer term came to an end, Cal felt like everything was falling into place for the first time in his life. True, he still had a small part of him worrying about what would happen when he told Viola about him. But he would soon know the answer to that question, as he had managed to convince his father that it was time to let her in. He was going to talk with the rest of the League about it soon, and hopefully they would agree to it, which would mean they would be able to actually sleep together without him having to worry about her noticing any weird floating accidents or other things. No more sneaking around and having sex, or negotiating with his parents to use his blue k bracelet to be able to stay over with her on occasion… And first and foremost, it would mean no more lying and hiding things about himself. He was almost giddy with happiness as he thought about it. They would be able to spend several weeks together over summer, before she was scheduled for a trip to Europe and he had to go for a couple of weeks to the Fortress. And in the fall, they had both been accepted to Met U. It seemed too good to be true. 

And therefore, naturally, it was. On a sunny Tuesday, right before graduation, everything began to fall apart… 

It started with an anonymous call. It was Ellen who picked up the phone and Cal, who was busy packing up some things for a picnic at the beach with Viola, saw the color drain from her face before he heard her answer.

“Eh… I don’t know what you are talking about, I think you have the wrong number….” she said in a short, cold, voice and hung up the phone. 

Cal just looked at her with raised eyebrows, and he noticed that she was shaking. He instantly froze internally. Ellen was always cool, never scared or panicked. But now she looked like she had freaked out completely. He waited for her to say something, but it was like she didn’t even want to repeat whatever horror she had heard out loud.

“Someone called asking for Superman…” she eventually declared, trying to compose herself.

“What?!” Cal said aghast… He couldn’t really wrap his head around this. Nobody in the League ever used their home phone for anything - it was strictly used for private matters, and it wasn’t even listed. He knew what horrible conclusion Ellen had come to, that had made her freak. Somebody was on to them.

The phone call naturally stirred up a lot of activity, not only in the Lane-Kent household. The whole League were involved trying to track the number and come up with a plan to handle the crisis. They all agreed that they had to be more vigilant, but that they couldn’t change too much in their daily routines. It could be that someone had a hunch and wanted to test how they reacted. Going into panic mode would only confirm that the caller was right if it indeed was some hostile person trying to get to them. 

Cal and Ellen went to the beach as planned with their friends that day, but Cal couldn’t help keeping a bit more distance to Viola than usual. If somebody was watching them, he didn’t need for them to see how close they were. But he got a cold, sinking feeling in his stomach when he realized that they would probably already know. Nothing more happened for a couple of days though, and they made it through their graduation without incidents. Cal still kept all forms of PDA to a minimum when he met Viola though, and he started to make excuses not to see her. At first, he wanted to tell her the truth, but everybody else agreed that this wasn’t a particularly good time to do it. If the secret was already in danger of being exposed, they needed to keep the ones in the know to a minimum. 

“Is something wrong Cal?” Viola asked a couple of days later as they met again on the beach. They were sitting next to each other, but Cal made sure to keep a bit of a distance to her. She had leaned in for a kiss, and he had looked around nervously before giving her a small peck on the lips and pulling away. 

“No, I have a lot on my mind, that’s all…” he shrugged and tried to play innocent. Internally he was screaming. He just wanted to embrace her, kiss her and tell her everything was ok. But if it meant any small risk whatsoever of putting her in danger, he couldn’t. It was torture not being able to be honest with her right now, and not knowing how long this situation would last. The league still had not been able to track down whoever had called, and nothing else had happened. 

“Seriously, Cal… what is it? You have hardly touched me for days… at least not in public. And you don’t want me to come over to your place… Did someone try to interfere with our relationship again?” she sounded worried, but he just couldn’t think of a single thing to say, so instead he answered that she was imagining things, and quickly changed the subject by suggesting they should all go for a swim. Afterwards, he made up some lame excuse about not feeling well, and headed back home.

He spent a day in bed, talking on the phone with Viola, but refusing to see her. He blamed some kind of stomach flu, but he got the feeling she didn’t believe him. As she was going out of town for a couple of days he was going to get some space to think about how to handle things.

“I hope you’re feeling better by Friday night though… There’s a big party at the beach and I think it would be great if we could go...! I told dad I want to leave a bit earlier from the hike so I can make it there on time...” Viola told him on the phone. 

“I don’t know… why don’t we just stay at your house and watch a movie the two of us instead? As you said before; we have hardly seen each other for a week?” he tried.

“Oh, come on... It might be the last time we meet everyone from school before they are going away on vacations and to different Colleges in the fall…”

At long last, he had promised to be there, as he saw no way out of it at the moment. And he also realized it might get suspicious if he didn’t show up. It turned out that Viola had been right - everyone else was going. As nobody else had called them or done anything else suspicious, he also started to relax a bit. Perhaps it had just been some weird coincidence after all? Or the person had called because they knew that his mother had interviewed Superman. 

However, just as they started to relax, things got worse. There were no more calls, as the ones behind it probably realized their phone would be bugged and tracked by now. But Clark received an anonymous letter at his desk on the Daily Planet. It was printed on plain, white paper, folded into a normal envelope and just contained one sentence.  _ I know who you are. _ Chloe worked hard trying to find traces of DNA, fingerprints or anything unusual on the letter, but no such luck. 

It was decided that the members of the family should go on a vacation. They still didn’t want to raise suspicions in case the person behind the threat was really just playing a hunch. But a family vacation in the middle of summer wasn’t that suspicious, and it was decided that they would go away in one week from now, telling people they were visiting their cousins in Star City for a couple of weeks. They were only planning on staying there for two days, after which at least Ellen and Callum were to go to the Fortress with Connor and stay there until they had found the culprit. Until then, they were supposed to go on as usual. But Clark didn’t leave Lois’ side for the whole week, and Callum and Ellen stuck together as glue as well, only leaving the house as much as was necessary in order not to raise suspicions.

On the morning of the beach party, one of their worst fears became reality. Clark received another letter at his desk, addressed to Superman this time. It contained another message stating  _ I need you to help me, or people you care about will get hurt.  _ The worst part was not the message, however. It was the pictures attached to it. Pictures of Callum and Ellen, all evidently taken over the last couple of weeks, hanging out on the beach, having coffee at the Beanery and reading on the porch swing outside their house. Ellen was just angry and told everyone that the idiots could bring it on, she knew how to defend herself. Cal, however, panicked when he realized Viola was with him in several of the photos, this wasn’t just about them anymore. It was not a far reach to imagine that someone would be able to use her to get to him, to get to Superman. He had to do something about that. 

They spent most of the day locked up at Watchtower, arguing about what to do. Clark wanted the whole family to leave for the Fortress at once. Lois, however, still withheld that it would only confirm any suspicions people might have. 

“We don’t know if they really know for sure Clark. Or if they have proof. If we panic, we will only do them a favor…” she argued, and Ellen agreed with her.

“Me and Cal will go to the party tonight, where we can tell everybody how much we look forward to visiting our cousins in Star City, and then we leave first thing in the morning tomorrow. It’s just another day…” Ellen said. 

“I can’t go without Viola… What if somebody uses her to get to me?” Cal said, stubbornly.

“I know that you’re scared for her, but she will probably be safer far away from you honey” Lois said. “We can’t hide everyone of your friends, and it would mean we would have to tell her and her whole family as well and this isn’t a good time to bring them into this mess Cal, you have to see that.”

“So what do I do? It’s not as if she’s a regular friend… Everybody knows she’s my girlfriend… You saw her in those photos, right?” Cal tried to reason. 

He begged and pleaded with his parents and with Chloe and Oliver who were talking to them online in the old Watchtower in Metropolis. But the others didn’t seem to share his worry that Viola would be a possible target. It was too much of a long shot for whoever was after them to assume that Superman would give in to blackmail over his son’s high school sweetheart. But Cal was in an uproar. Neither Ellen nor anyone else could get him to calm down. He was pacing around in Watchtower, not even wanting to eat, running his options through his head. At long last, he sighed and sat down on a couch with his head in his hands. Ellen sat down beside him, trying to think of something to say to comfort him. She came up with nothing, and offered him a coke instead. Then she just curled up on the couch with her head resting on his shoulder. 

“Hey, it’s going to be ok Cal…” she said softly.

“I don’t know Ellen. I have thought this ever since the phone call. It’s too dangerous for Viola to be with me… And it’s not just now. There’s always going to be some threat hanging over us. What if we just can’t have normal relationships? Normal lives? Friends…? Lovers? I feel so selfish right now. I feel like I’m using her. Pretending to be a regular guy. She doesn’t even know the danger she’s in...”

“Don’t say that… I don’t think she would choose to leave your side even if she did know Cal. Look at mum - she’s been through so much, but she’s never regretted a day of it as far as I know.”

“Yeah, but that’s just it. She’s had to go through hell for us. I don’t want Viola to have a life like that… If she had never met me, she wouldn’t ever have had to make that choice. If I break up with her now, she’s going to forget me in time, meet some nice, normal man. Settle down, have kids, live happily ever after. I’m just standing in her way. And right now, I can’t even offer her the choice, I’m just dragging her into danger without her knowledge.”

“Please Cal, I think I know where this is going. And that road isn’t going to lead to a happy ending for either of you…” Ellen sighed.

She could see Cal’s point. She truly could. Being close to them would always mean an increased risk of potential threats from intergalactic bad boys or regular earthly criminal masterminds. But that risk was still quite low, compared to the risk of more normal fatalities, like dying in an accident, assault on the street or a fire. And from those things, their friends were actually more protected than normal. So all in all, their presence in the lives of their loved ones wasn’t such a bad deal after all. True, right now the criminal masterminds seemed to be closing in on them, but Ellen had faith in the League being able to solve the problem sooner rather than later. And then Cal would probably come around, which meant he would regret it big time if he broke up with Viola now. 

But Cal had made up his mind. He couldn’t afford to put Viola into danger. Anything was better than that. At least for now, she was better off without him. If anything happened to her because of him, he wouldn’t be able to live with himself. Especially now that they had actually been warned. Ellen agreed that the current situation meant that they would probably not be able to be together over the summer, since she and Cal would be forced into hiding and training in the Fortress. But still, Ellen argued, it would be better if he told Viola as much as possible about the truth. They could tell everyone that they had split up, and then, when things calmed down, they could always get back together.

“Look, Cal. I know she’s your girlfriend. But she’s my friend too, remember. And I know her. She wouldn’t want to leave you just because things got a bit difficult. She will wait for you to come back…” Ellen made the mistake of explaining. And it completely backfired. She should have realized how Cal would reason. After all, he was an idiot. She knew that. She had just underestimated his stupidity sometimes, at least when it came to sacrificing himself for the people he cared about. He was a lot like his dad, in that way…

“I know Ellen. And that’s why I’m not going to tell her why I do it. I’m just going to break up with her… And make sure everybody knows it. I’m going to make sure she gets furious with me, and makes a scene at the party. That way, whoever is watching us will know we split up and she will no longer be in danger…” he declared.

“Ok, that’s the most stupid thing I’ve ever heard. You’re going to break her heart…” Ellen exclaimed. 

“I know. And mine too Ellen. But at least she’ll be safe… And you’re not going to tell her anything!” Cal said, with the most determined expression Ellen had ever seen on his face.

“No way, I can’t let you do this Cal… You’ll regret it later.” Ellen tried, but Cal had made up his mind.

“So I’ll stage a break up at the party, to make it realistic. Nobody’s going to buy it if we just tell people we split up. They are going to think it’s only temporary…. But then I tell her afterwards that it’s only because I had to, and that I still love her, but that she’s free to do what she wants. She can wait for me if she wants to, but doesn’t have to feel obliged to do so if this takes time. I think that’s a good compromise.” 

“Oh god, you’re such an idiot Cal. I can’t think of one single scenario where this plan of yours does not go wrong in one way or the other…” Ellen shook her head, but he was determined to see it through. 

Cal still hadn’t been able to eat anything all that day when he and Ellen parked the truck on the lawn by the lake. He had never felt this bad or this nervous in his entire life. He was going to hurt the girl that he loved more than everything, but he knew he had to go through with it. He had to keep her safe. It was his number one priority right now. He turned off the car and took the keys out of the ignition, hands shaking slightly. He could feel Ellen glare at him from the passenger seat. She was not happy with his plan. They were late for the party too. It was part of Cal’s plan, as he wanted to make sure Viola was a bit drunk as they got there. He had given Will the not-so-heroic mission of feeding her shots while they waited for Cal and Ellen. Will also didn’t think it was a good idea, but he had accepted the plan, and his role as Viola’s shoulder to cry on. Hopefully, they could also stage a fight or disagreement between Cal and him, meaning he would also be out of harm’s way. Will didn’t like that part of the plan much either, but had given in when Cal had threatened him that he would otherwise have to really hit him in front of the crowd. This way, at least he wouldn’t have to suffer any physical pain.

By the time they came to the beach, it was already dark and people were dancing and talking loudly around the big fire burning in the middle of it. Some people were already beyond drunk and others had used the atmosphere of the sunset on a beach on a warm summer evening to lure their love interest into some hidden corner to make out. Cal started his evening off by flirting openly with a couple of rather tipsy girls with too little clothes and equally little self respect, while ignoring Viola. She wasn’t the jealous type, so it was more the fact that he was ignoring her after almost a week apart that finally ticked her off and got her to confront him. Getting her to yell at him was not much of a problem. To get people to believe the part where he was yelling back and breaking up with her was more of a challenge, since he was usually not easily provoked. But he had a plan...

“What do you mean? I can’t believe you’re pissed off just because I’m talking to somebody else for a change. Do you expect me to always be at your beck and call Viola? You’re suffocating me, you know…” he wasn’t exactly yelling. But he was speaking loud enough for most people around them to hear. And he just needed enough witnesses to get the rumor mill going.

“What the bloody hell is up with you? Are you drunk? You’ve been acting strange for weeks Cal. And now you give me this crap for wanting to talk to you for the first time since last Friday?” Viola also raised her voice, clearly annoyed with him.

“I don’t know Vi. I just can’t handle the pressure anymore. You expect me to spend all summer with you, and then go to Metropolis in fall. I don’t even know if I want to go to Met U. I want to travel, to see the world, to do something that is just about me for a change. Perhaps go to college somewhere else. Or not at all right now. But it’s like you’ve got my whole life planned for me…” 

This idea of building up his case made sure that it wouldn’t even be suspicious if he didn’t show up for Met U this fall. He wasn’t as optimistic as Ellen about how quickly they would be able to come out of hiding, and he thought that he could kill two birds with one stone and also give a back story to his possible disappearance act.

“Well, I’m so sorry if you feel that way. I thought you were the one who wanted us to be together at Met U… I never meant to push you Cal. And I think you are being unfair right now...Perhaps we should talk about this another time…?” Viola huffed. She was clearly both annoyed and hurt, but she was unfortunately still able to keep her temper in check. Cal had to admit, he had underestimated her...

“I’m sorry Vi. I’ll be leaving for Star City tomorrow for a couple of weeks. I got the chance to spend some time with Leo there, and I just think it’s good if we get some space to think…” he started, but Viola interrupted him.

“What do you mean ‘space to think’...? Are you breaking up with me? But I love you Cal…Don’t do this to us…. Don’t you love me anymore?” She lowered her voice now, and was close to tears, which wasn’t at all what Cal wanted or needed. He needed her angry and shouting at him for everyone to hear… And he didn’t want to make her sad. Even if he knew she would be, eventually, an angry Viola was much easier to handle than a sad Viola. So he brought out the heavy artillery to piss her off. 

“I don’t know Vi. I thought I did. But when Leo asked if I wanted to hang out with him and his friends and have some fun over the summer I just started thinking. Is it really possible to just be with one girl forever? I mean, don’t get me wrong. We have had a great time. But what if I’ve been missing out? Perhaps we should give each other some space and play around a bit over the summer at least? I mean, you’re going to Europe, I’m going to Star City… And if I end up at Met U this fall after all, and if neither of us have met anyone else by then, then we’ll think about it?”

Cal had to use all his willpower and the mental image of Viola being held hostage in order to get to him, not to break down at her feet and apologize right away. It was such a dick thing to say that he was actually surprised she didn’t see right through it. He was almost a bit offended that she thought he was capable of even thinking something like that. But he knew he had hit her where it hurt. The idea of him missing out was actually something she had been worried about before. She had confessed once that she sometimes feared that the fact that she was his first lover would make him wonder, at some point, what he was missing. Her own insecurity, together with the fact that she was drunk, and that he had been building up to the moment, made sure she bought his little show. And, just as he had predicted, her mood changed from sad to furious faster than a bat could blink. 

“Yeah, I’ll give you space Callum. You and your ego can go have some fun in Star City or wherever you wish to go. But don’t think you can come crawling back to me when you change your mind…” she yelled at him.

Just to make sure she really made her point clear, for all to see, he added a cocky comment he knew would really make her see red.

“Aaaw, don’t be like that babe. It will be fun for you to play around a bit too...You know you’ll want me back eventually..” he said with what he hoped resembled an arrogant smirk.

“You can go to hell Cal…” she shouted at him and emptied the rest of her beer over his head.

*

“Well, Callum. At least you’ve accomplished what you wanted.” Ellen snapped as they drove back home. She was furious with him, and had no compassion whatsoever for his sad state right now. Her brother was miserable, yes. Devastated. Heartbroken. And it served him damn right, she thought. He had hurt Viola badly, and Ellen could not agree with him that it had been necessary. There could have been so many other ways to do this, that didn’t end up with her breaking down and crying in Will’s arms for an hour. Ways that didn’t include Cal making a fool out of both himself and her. 

When Will had loudly insulted Cal, before taking Viola home, they had waited for another half hour, playing it casual, before going home too. The last couple of hours had without doubt been the worst hours so far in his life. Sure, he had been sad before. He had been in life threatening situations himself, he had been worried sick about his parents when they got into trouble. But nothing,  _ nothing _ , could compare to the complete abyss of darkness he felt around him right now. Seeing the love of his life crying like that because he had deliberately hurt her… He had been counting on her to be raging mad at him, but he had not been able to guess that she would cry. At least not openly. She was almost never weepy, but he reckoned that it was tears of both anger and sadness at the moment. And Will had perhaps been a bit too successful in his attempts to get her drunk. Cal was really starting to reevaluate if this had been a good idea after all. But right now, he could not do anything about it. Her safety was still the most important issue, and if he tried to comfort her now in front of everyone, it would all have been for nothing. 

Hoping that it would help her understand that this was not her fault, Cal sent Viola a long text message. He cryptically explained how sorry he was about the fight and that he still did love her, but that something had come up that made it impossible for them to be together right now, and how he hoped one day she would understand why and forgive him, etcetera etcetera. Ellen argued that the message would only get her confused, and reasoned he should go see her instead, but Cal couldn’t face her right now. And it was probably better for her if she was a bit angry with him anyway. It would make it easier for her to get over him, if it did turn out that he couldn’t see her anymore. Cal still wasn’t convinced that he would ever be able to have a normal relationship with a normal girl again, and he didn’t want her to feel obliged to wait for him. When they came home, he started packing for spending an unknown amount of time at the Fortress without another word to anyone. 

*

Viola pulled the sleeping mask over her eyes and tried to get comfortable in the seat once the fasten seatbelt signs were turned off. She would probably not get much sleep tonight. She hated sleeping in airplanes. But then again, she hadn’t slept much for the last week anyway. Not since she had come home and collapsed down on her bed in tears last Friday, refusing to tell her dad anything other than that she wanted to rebook her tickets and get away on her trip to Europe as soon as possible. Luckily, Sebastian would be able to take her in right away, since he had some guests cancel on him, and thus had an extra bed in the cabin. A couple of weeks extra with her brother in the mountains was exactly what she needed right now. Hell, she would have gladly spent two weeks sleeping under a tree on a lonely rock somewhere if it meant getting out of Smallville. She hadn’t heard or seen anything from either Cal or Ellen since the party. She vaguely remembered receiving a text message sometimes later the night when they broke up, but she had erased it before even reading it. She had never been so angry with someone in her entire life. Or so devastated. She just couldn’t understand what had happened…

When Sebastian picked her up at the airport, she was really glad that she had given in to his offer. Normally, she would have insisted that she could take the train and the bus and that he didn’t need to go through the trouble of driving all the way. But he had told her he had some business to take care of in Munich anyway, and that it would hardly be out of his way. She didn’t believe one word of that, but she was still grateful. Sebastian was great. She knew he would be there for her, without asking too many questions or sticking his nose in it. He welcomed her in the buzzing arrivals hall with a Pretzel and a mug of Milchkaffee in his hand and walked her to the car. She threw her backpack in the backseat of his blue Volkswagen Golf and jumped into the passenger seat, suspiciously sipping on the light brown fluid in her mug.

“I forgot how awful the coffee is in this country…It’s actually worse than in the US” she said with a frown.

“Well, in the cabin we make our own coffee, even down to grinding the beans, so it will be drinkable. This was the best I could do for you right now.” Sebastian smiled at her.

They drove in silence for a long time and Viola first watched the city disappear and then the countryside slowly transforming into forests and mountains as the afternoon went by. Normally, Viola loved to talk. A lot. But she had also never been uncomfortable with silence, and she knew her brother wasn’t the type to just chat away about something meaningless to kill time. If anything important had happened in his life, he would tell her. Otherwise, he could just as well remain silent. But she also knew he would listen to whatever news or issues she wanted to share without complaints. And normally, she would have. But this time she preferred to sit in silence. She would probably tell Sebastian about her heartbreak eventually. Or not. In Viola’s experience, the thing about spending time outdoors, especially in a place with such a spectacular scenery as in the mountains, was that the experience somehow made all your pesky little human problems seem so small and unimportant. She found that this was true also for heartbreaks, and during her whole stay in the cabin, it was only at night, when she was alone in her bed, that the pain came flooding back. What would happen when she went along on the rest of her planned trip visiting family and friends in different parts of Europe, or when she had to return to Metropolis for the start of the semester, she knew not.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this was the last chapter in the "high school part" of this fic, which, I guess, would be like the finale of Season 1 if this were a tv-series. Stay tuned for the next season, where we get to know a lot of more interesting characters, and the plot starts to thicken...


	11. This has happened...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A little summary of the important things that happened so far, in case anyone wants to skip the "high school part" of this fic

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this fic is getting a bit long... and the first part is a rather slow build, and not my best writing to be honest. So. I thought I'd summarize it in case anyone wants to skip it and start when the kids go to the University. At first, I considered dividing it into two parts, but they are sort of interconnected, and the first part ends in a cliffhanger, so it's more like two seasons of a TV-show or something. And as Smallville often had some kind of flash back between seasons, if I remember correctly, I could do it to, right? Like, "this happened in season one..."

_This happened in "season 1"_

_We met Lois and Clark's children - the twins Callum (Cal) and Ellen and their friend Will, and followed them while they struggled with combining "normal" High School life with developing super powers and having a world famous dad (and mom)._

_In season 1, Cal met Viola, a girl who had just moved from Europe to Smallville with her dad - an environmental researcher who had moved there to study the meteor rocks. Cal had never been in love before, and found it hard to combine a relationship with hiding his powers. Something that only got worse when he developed heat vision and didn't tell anyone about it, ending him up grounded and without his trusty blue kryptonite bracelet to control his powers; which meant he couldn't take their relationship to the next level without the risk of hurting her... In the end, he told Viola that he had a secret, but that he couldn't tell her what it was just yet. She introduced Cal to her brother, Sebastian, who was visiting from Europe, and he tried to teach Cal meditation techniques to "control his temperament", but ended up realizing something was odd about his sister's boyfriend._

_After much practicing and some visits to the Fortress, Cal managed to control his powers and gain his bracelet back, meaning he could finally be physical with Viola. After an attempted kidnapping, Viola started suspecting that Cal's secret was some kind of power, and she also got suspicious of the bracelets that Cal and Ellen wore, that sometimes were blue and sometimes silver, but she didn't press the matter further. They took their relationship to the next level and were happy for a couple of months before Cal started messing things up. Someone had found out that Clark was Superman, and threatened the family and all of their friends. Cal was scared Viola would end up hurt, and broke up with her dramatically and very publicly to make people believe they weren't a couple anymore, claiming he wanted to blow off some steam and see other people over the summer while visiting his cousin, and notorious player, Leo Sullivan-Queen in Star City. In reality, the family went into hiding, and Cal sent Viola a message explaining the whole situation and telling her he would contact her once it was safe again..._

_While Cal was falling in love with Viola, both Ellen and Will fought with feeling lonely and a bit left out. Ellen was scared she would never find a guy who could accept a girl who was stronger than him in the long run, and feared always having to hide. Will found it a bit hard to see his old crush, and best friend, falling in love with someone else, but he was mostly over Cal and found it was perhaps what he needed to move on. Feeling he still had to hide his sexuality from everyone but his close friends in the small town they lived in, he had no big hopes of meeting anyone before he moved on though, and both he and Ellen agreed they would have better chances of finding anyone in Metropolis. _


	12. Metropolis, four months later

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the kids have started college, and Viola finally has to face Cal again...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *** Trigger warning ***
> 
> This chapter has a brief mention of an attempt at sexual assault, it doesn't go very far, but if this is a trigger for you, avoid reading between the ***

“Oh my god, Viola…! Callum Kent is downstairs, asking for you.” Holly, Viola’s roommate, came rushing into their room at the dorm.

“So?”

“So?! Do you even know who I’m talking about here? Like, the guy who gave tall, dark and handsome a face? Body like Adonis? He’s like the hottest guy on campus… No, in the State, probably. Or in the country. And he wants to talk to ** _you_ **…” she said incredulously, not believing that Viola didn’t get the magnitude of what was happening.

“So... maybe I don’t care…” Viola huffed, unsure of whether she was trying to convince herself or her friends. Probably both. Not that she did care. Not at all… _ Oh, well... _

“When did you even meet him… Have you been holding out on us? You could have introduced us if you’re not interested for yourself…” their friend Katie pitched in.

“What do you think he wants?” Holly asked. “What if he wants to ask you out?”

“I thought he didn’t date?” Katie complained. “I know like ten girls who have tried to get him to go out with them, and I have never seen him do more than maybe dance and talk a bit with someone at a party.”

“Yeah, I heard there is a bet going on among some of the sorority sisters down at the Kappa’s about who can get him into the bedroom first…” Holly snickered.

“Yieks. Tasteless…” Viola muttered.

“So you’re not in, huh?” 

“Nope. Not interested in getting into his pants…” Viola said. _ Been there, done that, don’t need the t-shirt... _she thought to herself

“Oh, well, I don’t care what he wants, you have to at least go talk to him Vi.” Katie insisted.

“Nope.”

“Nope? Are you serious? You usually don’t turn down a chance with a gorgeous guy? What’s the story? You do know him, right?”

“Not any more…” Viola muttered.

“But you used to?” Holly asked, curiously.

“So spill… we want to know everything. Did you go out with him?” Katie asked.

“Did you already sleep with him?” Holly pitched in.

“Look, I don’t want to talk about it ok? We went to the same high school for a while back in Smallville, and all I can tell you is that he’s not worth it. No matter how hot he is… He’s still an idiot, ok? So go tell him he can sod off…” 

Viola was losing her temper, and shot the others the kind of glare that made it clear it would be really unwise to continue to press the matter. They left her alone in the room, exchanging a quick glance, both thinking that a bit of liquor might get her to start talking later. Holly had an idea and whispered in Katies ear, who nodded. They both smiled at the gorgeous guy who was leaning casually against the wall in the hallway.

“I’m sorry, Viola seems to be out at the moment, we couldn’t find her…” Katie said and smiled her most charming smile at him, feeling her heart beat a bit faster when she met his eyes. _ Holy crap, is he hot... _

“But you can bring some friends and come by later if you want to? We are having a party in the dorm tonight, and Viola will be there for sure…” Holly filled in, she also felt a bit breathless. 

“Eh, ok. So maybe I will…” Callum said, feeling a bit nervous. “So, can I ask you something?”

“Sure…” Holly answered, not at all sorry to keep talking to him.

“Is she… eh… Do you know if she is seeing anyone?” He felt a bit awkward for being so straightforward, but he really didn’t feel like coming to a party only to be introduced to her new boyfriend. 

The girls exchanged a glance again and giggled a bit.

“No, I don’t think so… Nothing serious anyway. I mean, she does hook up with guys from time to time, but I don’t think she’s been in anything steady for a while…” Katie said.

“Ok, thanks… Good to know…” Cal smiled sheepishly and said goodbye to the girls.

*

“Oh my goodness, he’s totally in to her…” Katie said as they closed the door.

“I wonder why she didn’t want to talk to him… I bet she slept with him…” Holly muttered. “But you know, it was not so nice of you to insinuate that she’s sleeping around…” she gave her friend a frown.

“Sorry, but it’s kind of true… Ok, so perhaps she hasn’t actually _ slept _ with that many guys, but she’s always making out with someone when she gets drunk. Anyway, I thought it would only be fair to warn him.” Katie defended herself.

“Fair, right? Or perhaps you think you might have a chance if you make Viola look bad?”

“So what? She doesn’t want to have anything to do with him anyway…”

“Hm, I seriously doubt that… I think there’s more to the story. We’ll see what happens if he actually turns up tonight”

*

“I can’t believe you invited him to the party!” 

Viola was furious at her friends as they were getting ready for the events of the evening. She didn’t want to see him. Nope. Never again. She had been taking every possible measure to avoid him ever since she heard he had started at Met U too. She even changed a class she happened to share with him into something she really didn’t want to take at all when she had seen his name on the list. And she had been talking to her dad about transferring to Central Kansas or some other place. But he had refused to let her do it, telling her she had to face her problems, not run away from them.

It shouldn’t have come as that much of a surprise, naturally, that Callum had in fact turned up at Met U. But last year he hadn’t been sure if he would really go to College at all this year, or if he would have to go away on some stupid, secret, family thing. Or if he wanted to go someplace else. But when the girls had started to talk about this ridiculously gorgeous guy they had met at some party - a tall and ebony haired one, with intense azur blue eyes, a body like a greek god, and a smile that could melt iron, her heart had stopped. She didn’t even have to wait for them to say his name to know exactly who they were talking about. She asked around a bit, and it turned out Ellen and Will were at Campus too. Viola had greeted them shortly one day in the cafeteria, when Cal wasn’t around, and explained to them that she was sorry for her behavior, but that she wasn’t ready to hang out with them yet. She felt really bad for letting Ellen down. She had tried to Email and text Viola all summer when she was hiding out in Europe, but she just couldn’t handle anything or anyone that reminded her about Cal and in the end, Ellen had respected that and given up. 

Despite all of her efforts to hide her head in the sand, she might have to face him tonight after all. She downed a beer while getting ready for the party. She couldn’t help but choosing a rather sexy outfit. Black, tight jeans and a green tank-top that showcased her body in a very fortunate way and enhanced the color of her hair. She knew that Cal loved to see her in that green color… Part of her felt ashamed that she was obviously doing her best to impress him, but she felt it wouldn’t hurt to show the bastard what he had lost… _ How about what you lost? _ A small voice whispered in her head, but she made sure it drowned in another swig of beer. She called Matt, a guy who had been coming on to her for a couple of weeks now, and asked him to come to the party. Viola didn’t even like him, he was kind of creepy actually, and normally she wouldn’t have sunk so low. But she couldn’t bare to face Cal dateless. And she didn’t want to use anyone she actually liked even a little bit as a decoy…

By the time Callum actually got there, Viola was already quite drunk. She noticed him immediately and felt her stupid heart race. He was just every bit as gorgeous as she remembered. _ Stupid Cal… _When their eyes met across the room, she felt her knees give out under her, and she took Matt’s arm to steady herself and turned away. She noticed that neither Ellen nor Will was with him, only his cousin Leo. He was also a really good looking guy, tall and blond with rather long hair and a charming smile, and the two young men turned a lot of heads among the female crowd at the party. Viola scoffed internally as she thought about Cal’s idea to hang out with Leo’s lady friends over the summer. She felt like running up to her room and hide in the closet, but she didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of knowing he had that effect on her. So she went back to drinking, partying, and flirting with Matt, even if the small voice of reason said to her that it wasn’t a good idea. 

Viola did her best to avoid Cal, but it didn’t last long. About an hour or so after he got there, he evidently had decided that enough was enough and came over to them at the bar. Leo was nowhere to be seen though, which Viola felt kind of relieved about. She didn’t need to make a fool of herself in front of his cousin too.

“Hi, Viola…” he started.

“Well, hi to you too Callum…” she said, voice cold and just a tiny bit unsteady. “This is Matt, my date” she quickly continued just to make sure he got the point.

“Nice to meet you…” Cal said, looking like he really thought it was just as nice as being introduced to a dung beetle. “Would you mind if I just talked to Viola for a bit?” he asked Matt, but Viola interrupted him and almost screamed at him.

“Well, I said he’s my date, not my keeper. I decide who I want to talk to, and you’re definitely not on the list, so sod off will you…” she slurred at him. 

“Look, Vi, don’t do this. I just want to talk, ok?” he tried softly, forcing her to meet his beautiful blue eyes.

“Nope, sorry. Not tonight. We were just going to dance and you are standing in our way…” she snapped and dragged Matt along.

It was impossible to stand so close to him and not cave in to his charms. She felt the tears pool in her eyes as she walked away, towing Matt across the room, but she had made up her mind. She was not going to let Callum Lane Kent in anywhere near her heart again. He had already broken it once, and she was not going to give him another chance, not matter how cute, charming, and miserable he looked. Because Viola knew Callum well enough to know he was only here with the best of intentions. She knew he wanted to make everything right again, he wanted her to forgive him. Perhaps he even wanted her back… But no matter why he had done it, he had crushed her when he had left. She had just gotten back on her feet again after months of crying herself to sleep, and she did not trust that it wouldn’t happen again. No matter how good his intentions were right now. So she was going to show him that it was over tonight. Even if it meant that she had to make out with creepy Matt on the dance floor… 

In hindsight, it had been a really stupid thing to do. She didn’t even like Matt, and she had a bad feeling about him, that didn’t really get any better from him instantly groping her ass. But she was confused, sad, desperate and really drunk. It was all Cal’s fault really, she reasoned. _ Stupid Cal. Stupid, gorgeous, sexy, charming idiot _ . She saw him watching them on the dance floor with dark eyes. Part of her felt smug that he was jealous, but part of her felt terrible. Even if he had come with the intention of trying to get back together with her, now she was making sure he really wouldn’t want that anymore with the way she was behaving. She knew the horrible girls in the dorm wouldn’t hesitate to tell him that she had hooked up with more than one guy in the few months they had been here. And she saw talking several of the them flirting mercilessly with him over by the bar. She was furious with jealousy. Not that he even flirted back much; he obviously didn’t even try to make her jealous; which is why she was, oddly enough. Maybe he didn’t really care about her at all? Maybe he _ had _just come to talk to her, to tell her he was moving on? 

***

Viola felt so desperate to get out of there, she didn’t even hesitate when Matt dragged her upstairs to “show him her room”. She was only relieved to be out of Cal’s sight. She sat on her bed, head spinning, and thought about how to get rid of Matt without disappointing him too badly, when she realized that was the least of her problems. He bent down and pinned her to the bed, trying to rip off her top.

“Hey, slow down, will you…” she started to protest.

“Why? I want you, and you sure seemed interested before…”

“Yeah, but just because we made out a bit it doesn’t mean I want to sleep with you, you know…” she wiggled under him to get away, but he kept pushing her down on the bed.

“I said stop it, you jerk..” she swore and tried to kick him, but he had her legs pinned down under him.

Usually, she didn’t have a problem defending herself from some idiot who tried to assault her, but she was really drunk and he was a big guy. Since he had caught her off guard, he had already trapped her hands and pushed her down on the bed with one knee while he tugged at her top. She was starting to get really scared. Was the creep actually going to try to force himself on her? Tears of anger started to stream down her face as she kept twisting furiously under his weight. For a moment she almost froze as the fear trickled down her spine. The way he smelled of stale beer and old sweat was suddenly making her nauseous. Had she really been making out with him out of her own free will less than half an hour ago? 

“Be still, bitch. You know you want to…” he grunted and tried to mold his disgusting lips against hers while he kept fumbling with her cloths. Luckily, this snapped her out of her state of panic and she felt her fear slowly turn into anger.

“Get off me, asshole” she screamed at him, knocking her forehead as hard as she could against his nose. This made him lose his grip, and she managed to wrestle a hand free, and was just about to aim an elbow to his head when the door flew open. 

“I think the lady said no…” she heard a familiar voice hiss with anger.

In that moment, Viola wasn’t even upset to see Cal’s broad frame standing there in the doorway, the anger and disgust at Matt somehow made her forget she was still supposed to be pissed off at Cal. 

He gripped Matt by the shoulder and hoisted him up into the air seemingly effortless.

“Mind your own business, dude…” Matt started, trying to tear himself loose, aiming a swing at Callum, but he was instantly knocked to the ground instead, blood gushing from his nose. 

“Thanks…” Viola whispered, and found herself suddenly wrapped in Cal’s arms. They sat on the bed for several minutes, without saying a word. Viola was shaking, adrenaline flowing through her body, and the tears were streaming down her face. Cal just held her in his arms and stroked her gently over the hair. Despite the shock of almost being assaulted, which slowly drained from her body, she hadn’t felt so safe or so happy for months. She just sat there, pressing her face into his chest, indulging in the wonderful feeling of his embrace, his smell, his steady heartbeat. Somewhere through the haze of tears, she noticed Matt crawling out of the room, but she didn’t care about him. He could creep back under his stone for now, she would deal with him later.

***

After what seemed like ages, she slowly lifted her head and looked Callum in the eyes. She felt the familiar electricity ripping through her body as he wiped away the tears from her face and bent his head down to kiss her. His kiss was gentle and sweet, and for a moment she lost herself completely in him. It was pure bliss, like coming home again. She felt excited, warm and fuzzy… And absolutely furious with herself. This was _ so _ not what she had planned. She had sworn to keep him at arm's length, right? She couldn’t let him back in so easily… She pulled away and slapped him across the face.

“Hey, what do you think you are doing? Just because you saved me from that jerk doesn’t mean you get to take advantage of me…” she screamed, jumping to her feet.

“I’m sorry… I didn’t mean to… Viola, I just miss you so much…” he said, looking earnestly at her with his big blue eyes. _ Stupid, stupid, stupid… _she muttered to herself under her breath as she made her way out of the room in order to avoid him. 

“Yeah? Perhaps you should have thought about that before you dumped me?” she snapped at him.

“Viola, please… Can we talk about this? You know it wasn’t like that…” he came after her down the stairs as she ran away from him. 

The crowd was starting to thin out, but there were still enough people at the party for Viola to feel a bit awkward about the scene she was making. But she was too upset to really mind, and Cal didn’t care about what people thought, as usual. Viola could se Katie and Holly and some other girls looking at her curiously as she came dashing down the stairs, tears still streaming down her face, and Cal running after her, desperately trying to get her to stop. 

“Just sod off, will you?” she sputtered, more angry with herself than with him right now. 

“No, I won’t until you talk to me…” he said calmly, trying to take her arm, but she withdrew it from his reach.

“So what if I don’t want to talk to you?” she said, and glared at him, arms crossed and lips pressed firmly together

“I’ll get out of your face if you just give me one chance to explain, I promise…” he begged.

“I don’t want any more of your explanations, or your lies, or your excuses, Cal. I’ve had it with you. I’ve moved on…”

“Oh, right? With that charming guy upstairs, or what?” 

“Don’t you dare…”

“Yes I dare, because I hate seeing you like this…”

“Like what?”

“Viola, this isn’t you… The drinking, the parties, the mindless flirting… Why are you punishing yourself like this?” He raked his hand through his tousled, dark hair, frustration visible in his ice blue gaze. 

“Punishing myself? Is that what you think? Maybe it’s just me having the time of my life, and you just can’t stand it, can you?” Viola yelled at him.

“The time of your life? I don’t think so Vi… I’m calling your bluff…” he yelled back, looking so furious that she thought he was going to hit something soon.

“Why do you even care?” She was screaming at the top of her lungs. Hating him for not only seeing right through her, but for embarrassing her like this, in front of her friends.

“I care because I love you Viola!!” he shouted back, not even caring that everyone in the room heard him. 

“You have a funny way of showing it, don’t you…” she shouted back, exasperated, but felt her shoulders drop as her anger drained away. How could she possibly stay mad at him when he was putting himself out there like this? 

They both stood silent for a while, suddenly aware of all the faces that were turned in their direction. Most people had the decency to at least pretend to be looking the other way once the shouting stopped, but Viola saw her friends still glancing in their direction, curiously. _ Damn , I will never talk myself out of this… _ she thought. She would have to find some way to explain it to them later. Now her focus was on the man who just shouted that he loved her to the whole party. 

Part of her just wanted to throw herself in his arms. _ He still loves me… _But she was still too proud to admit defeat, at least in front of everyone in her dorm… And she also didn’t know if it was enough that he loved her. How could she ever trust him again after what happened? She bit her lip and eyed him nervously, and he evidently saw a crack in her defense, because he gave her an apologetic smile and slowly closed in on her.

“I know I messed up, but I do love you. Desperately. Always did and always will… If you want to hate me and be angry with me, that’s fine. But I don’t want to see you hurting yourself like this. And I _ would like _ a chance to talk to you about what happened. No matter what happens to us, I don’t want to leave things like this… Ellen and Will miss you as well, you know.” he said softly and cupped her face in his hand. 

She narrowed her eyes, and crossed her arms over her chest. Sure, she felt herself melting under his gaze, and in all honesty, ninety percent of her brain could only just think about kissing him. But she was not going to let him off that easily.

“Ok, Callum Lane-Kent. You can pick me up at eleven tomorrow morning and take me to brunch. At some nice place, mind you. And then I’ll hear what you have to say. Now I’m going to bed…” she said, stubbornly and poked a finger into his chest before she turned around to stomp up the stairs. 

Cal’s face split into a wide grin and he put his hands into his back pockets, watching Viola as she disappeared up the stairs.

*

When Katie and Holly came up to the room, they found Viola crying in her bed, hugging her pillow. She wasn’t really sad, just extremely confused. She had never had that many different feelings spinning around in her mind at the same time. She was still angry with Cal, and furious at Matt; she felt ashamed about her reckless behavior tonight, and about the fact that Cal had seen right through her like that. But she also felt a stirring hope that all was going to be fine in the end. And there was no escaping from the fact that she was still completely in love with him... The fact that she was still quite drunk didn’t really help to sort out the mess in her head either. She sighed as her girlfriends entered the room, knowing that there was no escaping their questions now. 

“Hey, are you ok? What the hell happened there…?” Katie asked, as she sat down on the bed and gave Viola a hug.

“What part?” 

“Let’s start with the fact that Matt came stumbling down the stairs with a broken nose and blood all over his shirt…? And you were screaming at Callum? Did he really tell you he loves you? Did they fight over you?” 

“That’s so romantic…” Holly sighed.

“Ok, that was not the least bit romantic, to tell you the truth. That jerk Matt tried to force himself on me as soon as we were alone, and Cal obviously heard my cry for help and knocked him out. He totally got what he deserved…”

“What? Are you serious?” Katie looked shocked.

“Yeah. He pinned me to the bed and tried to rip off my top, although I told him to stop… I mean, I know I was drunk, and we made out a bit on the dance floor, but that doesn’t give him the right to do that…”

“Shit, what an asshole… Are you going to report him?” Holly asked. 

“I don’t know. I think Cal hurt him pretty badly, I don’t want him to get dragged into this. I'll think of some way to get back at him, the jerk.”

“I still think you should call the police, you can't let him get away with this... And I can’t believe Callum managed to get away with that completely without a scratch though… Matt is a real fighter as far as I know. And he’s huge… hope he won’t come back for revenge.”

“Well, yeah. I think Cal can handle it… He’s a really skilled fighter too, even if he’s not the type to show it off unless he has to…” _ And I’m pretty sure he has some kind of power out of the ordinary… _ she added silently to herself.

“Ok, so tell us about you and Callum then? It seems that you do know him better than you let on earlier, huh?” Holly smirked.

“Hmpf….” Viola muttered. She was still not really in the mood to talk about her broken heart and sad love life. Not before she had heard what Cal had to say for himself…

“Oh no, you are so going to spill… The hottest guy in the state of Kansas barges in and declares his undying love to you right in the middle of the dorm room party…” Holly insisted.

“Not to mention you have heard us talk about him for weeks without ever telling us that you even know him…” Katie pitched in. 

“Ok, I’ll give you the short version. I’m too confused and tired right now to be able to give you any details… So... We met in high school last year when I transferred to Smallville. At first, we flirted a bit, but then we became really good friends. His twin sister was my best friend actually. Finally, we started going out, and we were more or less happy together for like half a year. Or at least I thought so… Then, all of a sudden, seemingly out of the blue, he dumped me and broke my heart into like a million pieces. It was four months ago and I haven’t talked to him since then, before tonight…”

“Wow, that’s weird. He seemed really honest about the way he feels about you tonight though… He hasn’t contacted you at all?” Katie asked.

“I kind of ran away to Europe over the summer, and I heard nothing from him for the first two months. Then I got a letter, but I never opened it. I couldn’t face it… He tried to call me a couple of times after we started at Met U, too, but I haven’t felt like talking to him…” Viola sighed.

“Wow, you still love him, don’t you...?” 

“Hmpf, if you must know…” she huffed indignantly, trying to decide if she should let them in all the way, but she realized the I-can-still-pretend-I-don´t-care-ship had sailed the moment they caught her crying on the bed. “I think I fell in love with him the first time I met him and I haven’t been able to think about anyone else since…” 

“So are you going to get back together with him?”

“I don’t know… As much as I love him, he still broke my heart. And I don’t think I could go through that again. So I guess it all depends on what he has to say for himself…”

“Must be hard to resist that smile though, huh?” Katie smirked a bit and raised one eyebrow…

“Tell me about it…Sometimes we did fight about stuff when we were together, but one of those sexy smiles, and I was putty in his arms… Or when he brings out the bedroom eyes… God… But this time it’s different. I mean, I have been angry with him before, but he never hurt me like this before. I don’t want him to think that he can fix this by seducing me, no matter how amazing the sex is…” she winked a at her friends, thinking it was time to lighten the mood and stop showing herself so vulnerable. 

“Oh, so the sex was good too…? Now I’m really jealous…” Holly sighed. “I hope he has a good explanation; and if he does I want details… Juicy details.”

“I promise, you will… but now I need my beauty sleep if I am going to survive that date tomorrow.”

*

Cal sighed and turned around in his bed, unable to sleep. He had been spending too many hours thinking about tomorrow already. Finally, Viola had accepted to hear him out. He had really been devastated when she refused to talk to him after he got back from the Fortress at the end of the summer. He had hoped that his letter would have helped her understand why he had to stage the break-up, and that it would be enough for her to forgive him. He couldn’t tell her what the threat had been about of course. Not about his father’s secret identity almost being exposed and not about the fact that the culprit had turned out to be a runaway loonatic from the mental institution, Belle Reve, where Clark had put the guy when he was still in High School. He had suspected that Clark was Superman, but since it had been such a long time, the League hadn’t realized and memory wiped him. Luckily, he hadn’t told anyone else, and once they caught him, altered his memory and put him back where he came from, all had been back to normal. 

The only thing he had been able to tell Viola, that was actually true, was that his family had been threatened. They had made up a story that someone tried to blackmail his father into killing a story by threatening his family and everyone they cared about. He had also written that they were under surveillance, and that the person blackmailing them had threatened to kill anyone they told the truth. It did sound a bit lame compared to what had really happened, but it was a plausible scenario, which could explain the reason for him to hide out in Star City without really telling anybody why. 

He realized he had been a bit naive to think she would instantly throw herself back into his arms after reading the letter, but he had hoped that they would get back together once they met at the University. He had his own bedroom in the Queen penthouse apartment, where he was currently staying together with Will, Ellen, and their cousin Leo, who had chosen Metropolis for his university studies to get away from his home in Star City. Cal had really mastered his powers over the summer, so he didn’t have to worry about floating in his sleep or setting things on fire anymore. In his fantasy, he would finally be able to wake up with Viola in his arms almost every morning, if he was honest with himself, he had been looking forward to it almost like if he was sure it would happen… But instead, she had seemingly wanted nothing to do with him.

She had refused to answer any of his calls, and she had avoided him like the plague ever since they started at Met U. At first, he just thought she didn’t love him anymore, especially when he heard that she was dating, even if it didn’t seem to be anything serious going on. But then she had talked to Ellen and Will briefly one day in the cafeteria, and they said she still seemed really upset about him. It had given him a bit of hope to know she wasn’t over him yet, but still. Why wouldn’t she talk to him then…? He knew she would be furious that he hadn’t explained about the threat earlier, and given her a chance to choose if she wanted to risk being with him or not. But he had really thought she would forgive him for that, once the situation was solved. Or at least yell a bit at him… That, he could take. It was the silence that was crushing him...

After weeks of twisting and turning the problem around in his head, and forcing Ellen and Will to listen to him complain and sulk, Ellen had finally had enough and forced him to go to Violas dorm and confront her.

“This is not just about you, you know. I miss my best friend too… You have to fix this somehow Cal…” she had demanded. 

“So can’t you talk to her?” he had tried.

“Nope, you have gotten yourself into this mess. You sort it out… I told you it was a bad idea to break up with her “for her own safety”... I would have been pissed too if it was my boyfriend patronizing me like that…” she had answered, and that had been the end of the discussion. 

Now, he lay awake obsessing. He decided that the best thing to do was probably to get up and try to distract himself with an episode of some series, or perhaps a snack? It sounded like the tv was already on, though, and Cal was so excited that someone was up that he could perhaps talk to that he didn’t even bother checking with his super hearing first, before barging into the living room. Well, it wasn’t the tv that was on… Apparently, Leo had gotten back; and not alone.

“Fucking hell Leo, you’ve got a bedroom…. I didn’t need to see that.” he cursed under his breath and turned on the spot. 

“Shit…” He heard Leo’s drunken laughter and his partner’s cursing all the way to the kitchen. Leo probably found this hilarious, Cal; not so much. It wasn’t that he particularly cared about Leo sleeping around, really. Or that he was prude or anything. But somehow, Leo’s wild adventures reminded him even more about his own sad love life. Well, hopefully that would change tomorrow…

“Sorry…” Leo said, not sounding particularly sorry at all, when he came into the kitchen twenty minutes later.

“What happened to lover boy?” 

“Oh, he left…apparently he wasn’t much of an exhibitionist so he made himself scarce before running into you again…”

“Don’t worry, we finished, your conscience is clear…” Leo went on to inform him, and Cal just stared at him blankly.

“I wasn’t worried. You do have a room if you don’t appreciate being interrupted…” He said sarcastically after a while.

“Don’t be such a prude… Or is it hurting your straight eyes too much to see two guys fuck?” he smirked, although he knew perfectly well Cal couldn’t care less about his choice of partners as such.

“Fuck off Leo, I don’t need to see you balls deep in anyone, male or female, really…”

“Next time, I’ll make sure to bring a girl and you can join instead of sulking? God knows you need to get laid… Oh, speaking of which…” he added, before Cal could explain how much he did _ not _ want a threesome with his cousin. “...how did things go with Viola?”

Cal glared at him for a bit, but decided he was better than nobody to talk to. When he wasn’t being offensive he was actually quite a good listener. And he had accompanied Cal to the Sorority party as moral support, although he had claimed it was to hit on all the hot girls. How he had even ended up dragging some guy home instead, Cal didn’t even want to know. But that was Leo in a nutshell.

Cal sighed and dove right into telling Leo all about what had happened since he had left the party instead.


	13. You did what??

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the kids finally sort things out...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah, and where there's making up, there's make-up sex naturally. So skip between the *** if that bothers you.

It was a beautiful Saturday morning when Callum finally walked out of the apartment to meet Viola for brunch, a bit tired but in a rather good mood after his late night talk with Leo. When his cousin snapped out of his stupid player mood, he actually did have some good advice in his back pocket and Cal felt hopeful that he would be able to fix things with Viola.

It was still warm outside although the leaves had already started to turn orange on the trees. Cal had prepared a picnic, since he didn’t really think that their conversation would be appropriate to have in a restaurant. If he knew Viola, and she still was that mad at him, there would be shouting and possibly even hitting him before she got it all out of her. But he had really gone out of his way to pick up all her favorites - everything from smoothies, to croissants, chocolate and strawberries. He planned to pick up coffee on the way to the park. If he managed to get her to forgive him, he would take her to a nice dinner in the evening. He had even made reservations… not that he wanted to jinx anything, but it was hard to get a good table last minute in Metropolis on a Saturday night.

  
  


*

Viola was nervous as she stepped out of the shower. The events of yesterday seemed fuzzy somehow, and she could hardly remember why she had agreed to meet up with Cal today. Maybe she should call it off? But no. She had to face this. Face him. She had to at least know. She could not really start to fathom why he had broken up with her if he still claimed he still loved her. True, his family secrets sometimes came between them, and she had been thinking about the possibility that he had been called off on some secret mission or something. But there was no reasonable explanation for him not telling her if that was the case. Or for making a scene at the party like that. Come to think of it, it had been a very un-Callum-like thing to do. The first few days, she had half expected him to come knocking on her door telling her he had been drugged or mind controlled or something, but when she hadn’t heard or seen a trace of him in over a week, she had given up and assumed he just didn’t want her anymore. 

So what if he had just changed his mind now? Would she be ok with that? Maybe he had been scared that their relationship was getting too serious, and freaked out. Or if he had in fact been serious about the stupid idea to play around a bit. And over the summer he had realized he still loved her. That was a reasonable explanation… but was it enough? How would she be able to trust him not to break her heart again? The thing she was most scared of right now was that she would forgive him just because she couldn’t resist his puppy eyes, only to find herself feeling needy and insecure about their relationship. No, that was not allowed to happen. She would really, really make him work for it if he wanted her back. They could go back to dating again, and she would not let him seduce her into sleeping with her anytime soon. She knew resisting him would be a lost cause if they got too intimate. 

When she heard a knock on the door, her treacherous heart skipped a beat and she swallowed hard before she opened. And there he stood, just as unbelievably handsome as ever in a blue button down shirt with the sleeves rolled up to the elbows and worn out jeans that hung from his hips in that really sexy way. His hair was still moist from the shower, and a bit longer than she remembered. It was sloppily combed back, with some locks hanging down his forehead, just barely covering his eyes. He looked up at her from under his hair, and smiled a heart-melting half-smile.  _ Damn, I’m so screwed…  _ she thought to herself.

“Hey, you… are you ready?” 

“Yeah, just let me get my purse…”

“Bring a sweater too… It’s not that cold, but I was thinking picnic by the lake?”

They walked together in silence for a while on their way to the park. After a while, they stopped to pick up coffee and they started to talk a bit about the University and what had been going on in their lives lately. The atmosphere was starting to feel more relaxed, almost like in the old days. But the subject of the break-up and the absence over the summer still hung in the air between them like a big flying neon pink elephant… Viola had to admit, he really had outdone himself in the romance department, remembering exactly everything she liked to eat and drink, down to her favorite brand of chocolate and flavor of smoothie. But she was a person who liked to speak her mind, and she couldn’t take dancing around it anymore. She really did think he should be the one to spill first; after all, he had asked for the opportunity to talk to her. But she also knew Cal, and it would probably start snowing before he plucked up the courage to confront the subject.

“So Cal…”

“Uhum…”

“I thought you were supposed to be explaining yourself… not trying to seduce me with chocolate…”

“Yeah… I know. I just don’t know where to start…” 

“Just pick a place…. Anywhere between ‘Why did you break up with me?’ to ‘What do want from me now’ will do…”

Callum took a deep breath and studied Viola intensely. She didn’t seem too upset at the moment, but he knew that could change in an instant if he said the wrong thing. She sat with her legs crossed in a seemingly impossible way on the picnic blanket and nibbled on a piece of chocolate, the red streaks in her beautiful hair glistening in the autumn sun. He felt a sting in his heart. She was so beautiful. So amazing. He was not allowed to mess this up. He had to put himself out there and admit how sorry he was, how scared he had been, and how much he regretted what he had done. Perhaps she would think he was a sap, but at least she couldn’t be mad at him because of it...

“Let me start by telling you how desperately sorry I am...Viola. I never should have left you like that without letting you choose what you wanted. If you wanted to stay with me… I was just so scared, Vi. So scared… He was closing in on us, and I couldn’t stand the idea of you getting mixed up in it. I didn’t know how bad it was at that time. But I should have told you everything earlier. I should have let you make the choice, I could have let you break up with me instead of embarrassing you with that scene at the beach…”

Viola was confused. What Cal was saying didn’t make any sense at all… She felt she had to make him take a step back and explain it from the start. She also got the creeping feeling she might have missed some important details. She held up a hand to interrupt the stream of words that had started flowing from him like a raging waterfall.

“Hold it Cal. You’re not making any sense… who was closing in on you? What were you afraid of? And what do you mean by letting me choose? Why would I choose to stay with you if you didn’t love me anymore?”

“You think I broke up with you because I didn’t love you…?” he said, staring at her in disbelief, a sense of panic creeping up on him.

“Eh, yeah…? That’s kind of what you said, right?”

“But didn’t you read my text…?”

“What goddamn text?”

“I texted you right after the party to explain…?”

“Yeah… I forgot about that. Sorry. Well. I erased it.”

“What!?” 

“I was really, really angry with you Cal. Furious. And hurt, and sad… and well, a bit drunk too… I don’t know. I just figured I had had it with your arrogance, and I erased it without reading it. I thought that anything you had to say to me, you would have to say it to my face…”

“But what about the letter I sent you?”

“Ehh… sorry. Didn’t read that either.”

“Oh my God Viola. What were you thinking? You gave me no chance to explain?”

“I was devastated Cal. You broke my heart. Into a million pieces. I don’t deal very rationally with loss, you know…”

“So you’ve spent all this time thinking I left you because I didn’t love you anymore…? That I actually wanted freedom to play around over the summer?” 

Viola just shrugged and looked at him sheepishly. Yep, she had missed some major detail of the plot. But how could he honestly think he could say things like that to her and then she would just play along with his little game of secret messages and strange disappearance acts. She watched him, waiting for an explanation, but he seemed to have lost the ability to form sentences. He opened and closed his mouth a couple of times, and shook his head. Finally, he just sat there with his face hidden in his palms without saying another word.

“You know, this might be a good time to tell me what you said in that text message... or in the letter…?” she tried tentatively. When he looked up she could see that he actually had tears in his eyes, and a really strange expression on his face. It was a mix of anger, relief and sadness. 

“I can’t believe you Viola… You know, when your boyfriend, who has repeatedly told you how much he adores you, I might add, makes a completely irrational scene at a party, and then sends you a message right afterwards... Do you know what you are supposed to do? Read it!! Or you confront him if you have suddenly lost the ability to read. You don’t assume that he’s transformed into an arrogant idiot or that he suddenly made a one eighty on you and doesn’t love you anymore. Was that really all the faith you had in me? In us? I wasn’t even worth the effort to read a goddamn text to you? Geez, Viola, I don’t know even what to do with you right now…” 

Cal had gotten to his feet and was pacing, around almost screaming at her. He couldn’t believe this. He was furious with her for being such an idiot. And furious with himself for not foreseeing the scenario where she got so mad at him she didn’t even stop to consider his explanation. But mostly he was sad that she had been going all this time thinking he didn’t love her… And that he had been doing the same for the last couple of months, since he had sent the letter that he had hoped would solve everything. After a while, he sat down beside her again, feeling a bit deflated…

“So, I would really like to say that I’m sorry…? But I still don’t understand why? Believe me, I have tried to come up with all kinds of explanations for you behaviour other than what you said at the party… And I was sorry that I didn’t read the text, but I figured you would come to me and explain when you realized I hadn’t gotten the message, if it was something important…”

“Yeah, well, the problem was just that I asked you to behave as if we had broken up and you hated me… And you did a good job of that. I only assumed it was an act at first. Until you refused to talk to me after the summer…”

“But why Cal? I know you are upset, but please just explain…”

He sat silent for a while, trying to fight down his anger while he was watching how the light from the sun danced around on the surface of the lake. For once, Viola waited, patiently. She started fidgeting nervously with the empty coffee mug, and at long last, Cal took her hand, and started telling her the whole story about what had happened. About the threat, about the not-so-great idea to make it seem like they broke up and trick her to make it more believable by not warning her first, and about the message that should have explained he still loved her but was forced to break up with her. He told her about having to go away into hiding over the summer, and about the letter he sent telling her that they had finally solved the problem, which made sure that they could be together again. And he told her about how devastated he had been when she ignored him and didn’t seem to want him back… About how he had heard about her going out with other guys at the Campus and just assuming she had forgotten about him over the summer. When he had finished his story, tears were streaming down both their faces, and Viola felt like an idiot. She should have known… She was still angry with him for making things so complicated, but still. She should have believed in them. 

“I’m so sorry Cal. I don’t know what to say… I mean, you  _ were _ being kind of an idiot. Don’t you know deceptions like that never work? Ever heard about Romeo and Juliet? Bella and Edward? Playing around with secret messages and pretending not to love your girlfriend anymore is like asking for misunderstandings… Considering popular literature references, we should be happy none of us is dead by now.” she gave him a half smile… “But I’m still sorry for not giving you the benefit of the doubt. Can you ever forgive me?”

His anger had drained away and he felt only sadness now. And love for the beautiful woman who was leaning her head at his shoulder, still crying. He didn’t know if he had ever seen Viola this vulnerable. She normally never cried when she was sober, and if she ever shed tears, it was usually mixed with anger, fear or frustration, like yesterday in her room or when he had broken up with her. Now she suddenly seemed fragile and insecure for a moment and he just wanted to wrap her up in his arms and make her forget everything that had happened.

“Will you promise never to doubt me again? I mean, I know I still keep secrets and sometimes I have to lie… but I need you to trust that I love you no matter what…” he said softly, wiping her tears away from her cheeks.

“Ok, if you promise never to break up with me for my own good again…!” she smiled at him, a sudden feeling of relief washing over her, her heart swelling in her chest. It was to going to be ok...

“Yeah, that was a stupid idea to start with.. You don’t have to tell me that, you know. Ellen might have mentioned it a couple of ...hundred...times already…” Cal said dryly.

“So… are we ok? I mean, I’ve really missed you…” she looked up at him from under her wet eyelashes with her best puppy-eye look, almost making him laugh at the way she was begging for forgiveness. It was so unlike her, but this softer, more vulnerable side, really made him melt. He knew it was a sign of deep love and trust that she dared to open up to him like this.

“Yeah, I’m willing to put this behind me if you are. I’ve really missed you too…” he said and pulled her closer in a tight embrace, a tentative feeling of happiness slowly spreading through his body. For the first time in months, he felt complete again. It had really been like a part of him was missing when she wasn’t with him. 

They stayed like that for hours, tangled together on the blanket, just holding each other, while they each went through all the events of the summer and the start of the fall. Violas trip to Europe, their move to Metropolis, their new friends and classes at Met U. Cal also tried to explain what had happened as they were threatened and forced into hiding, without giving away too much. While they talked, it became clear to him that he really had to tell Viola the truth soon, before any other stupid lie got between them again. He would have to have another talk with his dad about it soon… Or perhaps it would be easier to convince uncle Ollie, and have him convince his dad? Oliver stopped by the apartment from time to time, when he had business in Metropolis, and he would thus get to know Viola better soon if she kept hanging around with them.

When the shadows started to get longer over the lawn, Cal looked at the time, and realized they had to get going. Viola was half asleep, cuddled in his arms, and he could have stayed there forever. But he assumed she would want to freshen up before going out to dinner. That is, if she wanted to come… he hadn’t really asked her yet.

“Hey, Vi... “ he whispered softly in her ear and kissed her gently on the lips.

“Hmmm…” she mumbled.

“So, I made reservations for tonight… just in case you would forgive me, you know? To make up for the picnic lunch?”

“I loved the picnic…” she said, kissing him back.

“But do you want to go out with me tonight?” He really hoped she would say yes; he was not at all ready to part from her yet. 

“Hm… can I ask you something before I decide…?” she asked slyly.

“Sure…” 

“Are you currently under some weird ban of intimacy or something?” 

“No…”

“And is it true that you actually have your own bedroom in an apartment completely free of parental supervision?” she continued.

“Yes…”

“Ok, so then I don’t want to go out with you tonight!” she whispered huskily.

“You don’t?” he asked raising one eyebrow at her, kind of hoping he knew where this was going.

“No, silly. I want to go to my dorm and pick up my toothbrush. Then I want to go to your place, order in pizza and lock us up in your bedroom. And I don’t want to leave it until I have to go to class on Monday...”

“I like the way you think…” he grinned, the feeling of desire starting to stir in his lower belly just by her mentioning the idea.

“We have to make up for months of missed opportunities, you know... So we better start as soon as possible or we will never get back on track…” she smiled a seductive smile at him and planted soft kisses along his jaw and down his neck, sending shivers down his spine. 

“Ok, so what are we waiting for?” Cal jumped up and took Viola’s hands, dragging her to her feet. He was suddenly in quite a hurry to get going...

*

“Are you back already?” Katie asked as Viola entered the dorm.

“Yeah, I’m just getting some things… Don’t wait up ladies, I probably won’t be back until Monday…” she winked at her friends.

“Shut up! So he is forgiven, I take it…?” Holly said with raised eyebrows. 

“Yeah, long story… It’s so messed up, Shakespeare could have written it. But I’ll have to explain some other time. Now I have some serious make-up sex to attend to. I will hopefully be so sore I can’t leave the bed tomorrow...” 

*

It took Callum and Viola about half an hour to make the ten minute walk back to the apartment from the dorm. People who saw them might have come to the conclusion they were drunk, but in fact they were just both a bit too desperate to actually think or walk straight. Or to stop themselves from making out on every street corner. 

“What about that pizza…? Do you want to pick it up now…?” Cal panted as they broke apart from yet another deep kiss, leaning against the brick wall right outside the Italian restaurant around the corner. 

“How can you think about food? No, we don’t pick that up now. We can order later… or eat an apple or something… Come on, we have to get home now. I want you so badly, I’ll swear I’ll rip your clothes off in the middle of this street if I have to wait any longer…” 

“God, Vi, I want you too…” he grunted, pressing her more firmly into the wall behind them, unable to decide which part of her body he wanted to prioritize touching at the moment. “Come on, we’re almost there…”

“Are you sure nobody’s there?”

“Yeah, I texted Ellen, they are all at the party…”

Five minutes later, he sure hoped he was right about that, because they had already gotten rid of most of their clothes in the elevator. They stumbled out, still locked in a deep kiss and landed on the chaise in the living room. Cal had a brief moment where he thought that it would perhaps be better to take it to his bedroom, but it was only a brief moment. They were never going to make it there… 

***

“I’m sorry Vi, but this isn’t going to last very long…” he panted as he ripped off her jeans. He was so hard it was extremely uncomfortable against his jeans. He hadn’t been with anyone since they broke up, and he had hardly even pleasured himself. In order to do that, he would have had to think about her, which he hadn’t wanted to do, so… He was a bit deprived. There was no other word for it. And now they had been making out all afternoon, building up the tension. He really doubted he would last two minutes the first round of the night. Hopefully he would get the chance to make it up to her later...

“Don’t worry babe, I’m so turned on right now, you could probably drive me over the edge just by looking at me…” she said, and moaned loudly as he kissed her breasts and belly and fumbled with his zipper.

“Let’s not try that right now… God, I’ve missed you so much...” he whispered huskily between his kisses. 

“You talking to me or these babies…?” she whispered back with a wicked smile on her lips, pressing her breasts into his face…

“Both…” he smiled back, finally free from the goddamn jeans. He felt her whole body trembling with anticipation beneath him, and a surge of electricity went through his body as she reached down to take his throbbing erection in her hand.

“Ok, enough with the bloody foreplay, I want you inside right now…” she groaned and he didn’t even think twice before he ripped her panties off and plunged into her.

“Oh god…” He screamed out loud with pleasure as he filled her while she wrapped her legs around his back. It had really, really been too long. He held still for a moment, at least wanting it to last a minute or two, but she arched her back and moved desperately under him, looking for friction, while she pulled his head to her face and claimed his lips in a deep, passionate kiss, swirling her warm tongue through his mouth. He lifted her up a little and put one of his hands under her bottom, gently squeezing her, and one hand on her back holding her flush against him, trying to keep her still. That evidently just turned her on even more though, and she dug her heels into his back and pleaded to him.

“Please Cal...now.. want....oh...more” she moaned, and he couldn’t hold back any longer. He started to thrust desperately into her, still holding her body in his arms a few inches above the chaise, supporting their weight on his elbows. It didn’t take more than a minute before she screamed out loud and he felt her starting to shake and tremble around him. The feeling of her body squeezing him and the sound of her moaning with pleasure sent him right over the edge too, and he threw back his head and growled her name as he spilled inside of her with a last couple of twitching, uncontrolled thrusts . 

***

“God, Viola. I love you so much…” he panted as he let her body fall down on the chaise and put his forehead against hers.

“I love you too…” she whispered, still trying to catch her breath.

“Damn, that must have been some kind of record… although I’m not sure it’s one I’m particularly proud of...” he grinned at her.

“Yeah, but you still made me come, so you’re forgiven. And we have the whole night for slow and romantic , you know…” she smiled back at him and kissed him again. “You can carry me to your bedroom now…” she said, and he happily obliged.

  
  
  



	14. The secret's out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Viola and Cal finally confront the world...

“How long have they been in there?”

“I think the more intriguing question is: how long can they possibly stay in there?”

“I don’t know… but they have to come out and eat eventually…”

Cal and Viola exchanged a look and laughed. Yeah, they would have to face the other inhabitants of the apartment sooner or later…

They had been sleeping and making love in shifts all night, not seeming to be able to get enough of each other, and only reluctantly stopping to get some rest from time to time. But even if the sex was amazing, Cal couldn’t help thinking that the best part of the night was waking up with Viola in his arms, and watching her sleep peacefully for a while before he couldn’t stop himself from kissing her awake again. But he wouldn’t tell her that, or she would tease him forever for being so mushy. The morning was drawing closer to noon when they just couldn’t ignore the rather loud voices coming from the kitchen anymore.

“We can hear you, people…” Cal shouted at them.

“Yeah, and you are wrong, your know. We could probably get someone to deliver us pizza with a drone through the window…” Viola snickered.

But in the end, they reluctantly gave up and made their way into the kitchen. Viola wearing one of Cal’s shirts and he only PJ bottoms. None of them made any big effort trying to comb their hair or hide the flushed look on their faces either. It wasn’t as if there were any denying what had been going on in the bedroom anyway. 

The others were too happy to see Viola to even bother messing with them much though. Ellen only had one little remark for Cal after she had hugged the breath out of Viola…

“Oh, and mum called. She asked for you and wanted to know how the date went yesterday…” she said innocently.

“Hm, I bet she did… I’ll have to call her later.” Cal narrowed his eyes at her suspiciously, knowing more was coming.

“Don’t bother, I told her that I think it either went really well, or you’ve been locked up in your bedroom watching porn for twelve hours…” Ellen smirked at him, raising her coffee mug.

“Gee, thanks Ellen. So sweet of you to fill her in…” he said, shaking his head.

Viola couldn’t help laughing at Ellen and Cal. She had really missed their playful sibling banter. She gratefully accepted the large mug of coffee that Will poured for her and sat down at the bar in the kitchen. She drew in the wonderful smell of coffee and let out a yawn and a small sigh of happiness. She had been a bit nervous about facing the others, fearing that they might be mad at her for turning her back on them like she had done for the last couple of months. None of them seemed to hold any grudges though, and she was welcomed back with open arms by both Ellen and Will. 

She hadn’t met Leo much before, but she really liked him. Sure, he was a bit of a player but other than that, he was laid back and funny. She had almost forgotten his way of always finding something to laugh about in any given situation. When she and Cal told the story of the misunderstandings surrounding the break-up he roared with laughter, like it was the funniest story he had ever heard. Will and Ellen just shook their heads in exasperation. Sure, this was something they would eventually all laugh at, but it was also so completely stupid and had meant much suffering for both Cal and Viola.

“This is so dumb it must be worthy of some kind of stupidity award…” Will suggested.

“Yeah, Viola… I really wish you would have come to me. I could have helped you sort this out sooner…” Ellen shook her head.

“Hold on, I tried to get you to talk to Viola, but you refused, remember?” Cal protested.

“Yes, because you were being an idiot and I thought you deserved to sort out your own mess… But if Vi had come to me, if I had known how sad she was, I wouldn’t have hesitated talking to her…” she huffed at him.

They spent most of the afternoon sprawled out around the couch in the living room, watching old movies and catching up. Leo wanted to know if Viola had any hot friends she could introduce him to, which earned him a pillow in the face from Ellen. 

“Stop being such a slut Leo. Haven’t you dated enough people over the last two months…? It’s about time you picked one to ask out again instead of starting going through everyone in Violas dorm now as well…” she said.

“What? The College years are supposed to be about having fun and gaining life experience, you know. I’m not going to start out by letting anyone put a ring through my nose the first semester like Cal here… I am young, handsome and single, I intend to enjoy that for a while longer thank you...” he said, only half joking. 

“Oh, and you forgot to add ‘humble and honorable’...“ Ellen snorted.

“I never ever presumed I was either of those…” Leo said with a smirk and went out into the kitchen to grab a beer. “Who wants something to drink?” he asked when he got back with a bag of chips and a six pack in his hand.

“I could use a drink - for my nerves…” Will said, winking at him.

“Oh, come on, it’s like your third date with this guy tonight, what is there possibly to be nervous about?” Ellen asked.

“Exactly that. The third date, Ellen…? If it goes well, it might end up somewhere else after the club you know…”

“Stop being such a nervous wreck, it’s only sex you know… If you want some practice you know I’m always happy to oblige…” Leo offered with a flirty wink. Viola really hoped he was joking, but she doubted it… As far as she understood, Leo wasn’t too particular regarding who he slept with, and Will was kind of cute with his blond locks and his sunny smile, she had to admit that.

“Screw you Queen… And if I do get company tonight, can you please stop being such an inappropriate flirt… I like this guy, ok?” Will huffed.

“Sorry, I will try to tone down my sex appeal, but it’s not that easy to try to sell a Ferrari as an old Volvo you know…”

“Oh, get over yourself Leo, you’re not that hot…” Will smirked and threw another pillow at him.

“I never understood why one should wait until the third date anyway… It’s a waste of two good opportunities to get laid…” Leo sighed.

“Yeah, well, that’s because you’re a horny bastard. And that’s also why Viola will never let you anywhere near her friends, right Viola…?” Ellen said and Viola nodded in agreement, although she silently thought that she probably had a couple of friends who wouldn’t mind getting some with no strings attached either...

“Ok, but don’t forget the Muggle alert if you do bring him here…” Leo laughed with a wink directed at Will, but froze as he saw the expression on his room mates’ faces and realized he had forgotten all about Viola.

Cal glared daggers at his cousin. Carefree and fun could be good personality traits sometimes, and usually he enjoyed Leo’s way of joking and messing around trying to provoke his sister and Will. But when you lived with two friends who had super powers, and the risk of others, like Bart and their dad, whooshing in to say “Hi” from time to time you just had to learn how to watch your tongue. 

At first, they had had a rule of not bringing outsiders to the apartment, but Leo had talked them out of it, arguing that there was no point of having your own bedroom while at College if you couldn’t ever bring home dates. They still avoided big parties but they had agreed to sometimes invite friends over who didn’t know their secrets. And in order to prevent any use of, or talking about, powers and secrets when they had outsiders visiting, they had installed what they jokingly called “the Muggle alert”. It was a switch in the hallway that turned on a series of special lights in the apartments. There was one in the window warning Superman, should he want to come flying in, and one in each of the other rooms of the apartment warning both inhabitants and visitors. 

“Crap, sorry guys…” he said, grinning but at least having the decency to look a bit ashamed. “But you seriously have to let her in soon you know... “ he added bluntly. It was too late to make excuses now anyway.

“Tell me about it…It’s not really like it’s up to me.” Cal muttered.

“I can try to talk to…” Leo started, but Cal silenced him with a look. He hadn’t wanted to remind Viola about their secret and the fact that she was left out on their second day back together, and he really had to get Leo to shut up before he put more of his foot in his mouth.

“Oki, enough talk about how I don’t fit in to your little wizards’ club, for now... “ Viola joked in an effort to keep it light. But she really wanted to end this conversation now too. She hated that Cal got so uncomfortable, and that her brain refused to stop spinning at every mention of their secret. Now she had just received another unwanted piece of the puzzle. Not that she hadn’t already been fairly certain that Leo knew their secret, but now there seemed to be more to it. Who could he possibly have a better connection to then Cal for him to be able to persuade them that she was to be trusted? It was a family secret after all, and now she suspected that Leo’s parents were also involved… So perhaps it wasn’t a Kent-family secret, but a Lane-Sullivan one? She had been almost certain it was Clark who was the main secret keeper of the family, but maybe she had been wrong? Were they all equally involved? As she didn’t want to spend any more time thinking about it, she quietly suggested to Cal that they were long overdue for a little alone time in his bedroom, and he was only too happy to agree. It had been several hours, after all...

*

They met up for lunch at Campus that Monday, both feeling a bit needy as they had only spent a couple of hours apart since making love twice in bed and one time in the shower that morning, before walking together to the Campus. But they both reasoned that it was probably ok to feel like that after months apart from your lover. Cal took Violas hand and towed her towards the cafeteria. She bit her lip a bit nervously, like if she wanted to ask him something, but was too scared. He raised his eyebrows in a questioning look, when he sensed her insecurity.

“So, you’re ok with this?” she finally asked him.

“With what?”

“Going public with our relationship? If we walk into the cafeteria holding hands the cat’s going to be out of the bag, so to speak…”

“Yeah? Is that a problem?”

“No I was just thinking… If you want to wait to tell everyone, it’s ok. I would understand. I mean. I did make out with Matt at the party Friday, and I do know what people are saying behind my back… So if you don’t want people to know…” she rambled, nervously. 

Cal just gave her an I-can’t-believe-you-just-said-that-look and kissed her until she shut up. He wasn’t the kind of person to care what people were saying behind his back, even if it was true. And he was definitely not ashamed of going out with the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. No matter if she had been fooling around a bit mindlessly with some guys, lately. He didn’t know if she actually had slept with someone else during their time apart, and he really didn’t care either. She was his now. That was all that mattered. If the issue of his secret and, thus, fear of intimacy, hadn’t been a constant factor, he might have done the same thing. 

Truth to be told, he actually thought it was kind of funny the way people were staring. He knew he had some admirers among the female crowd at Campus, who only saw that he was good looking and well built, and he secretly enjoyed rubbing it in their swooning faces that he was now taken. Ok, so it was a bit immature perhaps. But he was sick of shallow people in general, and even more so of those constantly trying to get into his pants when they were drunk. How they could think he would be interested in them just because they showed off their fake boobs in tight little dresses and batted their eyelashes was beyond him. Not when there were women like Viola to compare them with… Perhaps it was a reverse kind of sour grapes syndrome that made him really despise the ones throwing themselves at him like that. When he was on his worst kind of behavior, he could sometimes entertain himself with small experiments to see how rude he could be before they would actually give up and leave him alone. Sadly, it was usually possible to take it quite far… No, he really did prefer a girl like Viola, who wouldn’t hesitate to punch him in the face if he was ever to insult her. And he knew deep down, that even if she joked about it sometimes, his looks weren’t the reason why she loved him. So therefore, he felt comfortable, even a bit cocky sometimes, when she went on about his sex appeal, and today she had a blast giving the swooning crowd hell.

The games started with a blonde sorority girl who Cal couldn’t remember the name of. They danced for a bit at a party a couple of weeks ago, and it had been almost impossible to shake her after that. Somehow, she had managed to get hold of his number, and she had been sending him invitations regularly ever since. Some more bold than others. But the fact was that he now knew the color of her underwear half of the days, or on occasions the lack of such, although he still didn’t know her name. She knew his name very well though, and now she came up to their table with a couple of friends and eyed Viola suspiciously. The expression on her face was a mix of disbelief and irritability, but she had a sickly sweet voice as she spoke.

“Hi, Cal… I heard you’ve got a girlfriend now? Is it true?” she nodded in Viola’s direction without actually looking at her, like if she didn’t understand English. 

Cal opened his mouth to answer, but Viola beat him to it. She pulled off an expression of shocked disbelief, like if it was the most insulting thing she ever heard.

“What? Girlfriend? Me? Hell, no. I’m just using him for sex…” she said, managing to keep her face straight, while Ellen and Leo both choked on their drinks, as they laughed out loud. 

“And here I was thinking you loved me for my endless wits and charms?” Cal replied innocently, completely ignoring the swooning three who still stood frozen in shock.

“Oh, you did? That’s so cute Callum…” Viola smiled a sweet smile at him and fake-batted her eyelashes. 

Cal didn’t even feel bad about messing with them. He had heard them bashing Viola as they came into the Cafeteria, clicking their high heels in sync as they marched through the crowded room. They were talking about how they couldn’t believe he would actually date a girl  _ like that _ . At first, he had no idea what they meant, but evidently it was her unpainted fingernails, not always so well groomed hair, and her lack of thick layers of makeup that insulted them the most. How it could be a bad thing to be beautiful without even trying, Cal could not understand. He watched Viola where she sat across from him at the table. Her long, curly, auburn hair was twisted into a messy bun with a pencil at the back of her head and her face was completely free of make up today, but her full, pink lips still shined slightly and her green eyes sparkled under dark lashes. Why she should have to change anything at all in her appearance was beyond him. She was simply beautiful.

The staring and whispering continued for a while over lunch, but they didn’t pay much attention to it. Some people who had been staying late at the party in Viola’s dorm last Friday came up to them and congratulated them or gave them meaning smiles. Most people from the dorm had already heard the rumours anyway, but a few who had only seen Viola with Matt at the beginning of the evening, and hadn’t heard about the rest, frowned and looked a bit confused. One girl who Viola never liked much anyway, even before, came up to her and gave Cal a once over while obviously trying to think of an insult. 

“Oh, so this is your latest conquest? Unusual to see you actually being with a guy when you are sober…” she said in a snarky tone. 

“Yeah, he turned out to actually be a decent shag, so I decided to keep him…” she answered lazily, her eyes fixed at the spaghetti she was twisting into a tidy knot around her fork. She was joking, naturally, but she was actually a bit annoyed this time. Probably because she knew the girl had a point. She briefly considered punching her in the face for being both rude and right, but decided it just wasn’t worth the effort. She was in too good of a mood today to let it be ruined by a snarky comment from some jealous girl. Besides, she knew that this was probably about revenge anyway. And she might just have deserved it. She may have happened to steal that girl’s date and made out with him at a party once...

Although they were both in a good mood, and could take a lot of crap today, there is a point at which even the most patient man, or woman, loses his, or her temper. Viola and Cal both reached that point simultaneously when Matt walked by, glaring at them and gave a snide comment to his friend, loud enough for everybody around to hear.

“Wow, that bitch really has no shame. This Friday she almost slept with me, and now she’s evidently sleeping with the dick who interrupted us…” 

Callum felt his blood boil and his muscles starting to flex involuntarily. This was one of those times when he wished he wasn’t a super powered being who had responsibilities and was supposed to stand above such lowly things as normal, human rage. It was one thing to knock the guy out cold in the heat of the moment, while saving a woman from being assaulted. Just hitting him because he was rude was something else. He decided he had deserved it though, by not only assaulting Viola in the first place, but then being a dick about it too. He twisted his bracelet to blue. If he was going to get into a fight, it was at least going to be a fair fight. He got to his feet, preparing to teach that bastard another lesson, but Viola was quicker. 

“What?! Seriously?  _ I almost slept with you? _ Is that  _ really _ what you’ve decided to go with…?” she shouted at Matt so loudly that most people in the cafeteria heard, and she didn’t mind at all. It was about time they all knew what a disgusting creep he really was.

Cal tried to hold her back as she moved forward, raging with fury, and pressed a threatening finger into Matt’s chest, but she just muttered at him to stay out of it.

“And just for your information, there is only one thing about this Friday that I actually am ashamed of. Namely that I was so drunk that Cal had to help me get rid of you when you tried to _force yourself on_ _me_, you asshole. Because that deprived me of the opportunity to do this…” she continued shouting, and put a well placed knee between his legs. She flipped her long, tangled hair back, still huffing with fury, and walked back to her party, leaving Matt lying on the ground moaning, hands clamped to his groin.

That little demonstration effectively put an end to all further comments on Viola and Cal for that day, at least to those spoken out loudly. 

It didn’t stop Viola’s friends from questioning her though. Rachel, a girl she sat next to in philosophy and who had been hanging out a lot with her and the girls from the dorm lately, made big eyes as she saw Viola and Cal share a kiss before they parted to go to their respective classes. She hurried towards Viola, and started walking with her to the lecture. 

“What was that about? Are you actually going out with Callum Kent? When the hell did you even meet him?” she wanted to know as soon as they were out of his hearing range. 

Viola took a sip of coffee out of the paper mug she had brought from the cafeteria and shrugged. She didn’t have a problem defending herself to the swooning bimbos or the mean crowd, nor did she care what random strangers thought. But she felt a bit uncomfortable explaining her seemingly weird behavior to her friends. She had spent almost two months pretending she didn’t know Cal when people had pointed him out or plotted how to get him to go out with them. She felt terrible when she remembered that Rachel had been in the latter category... Now, it would be obvious to everybody that Viola had been lying to them. And she usually took pride in being a straight forward, honest person who never backed away from problems or challenges. That image was probably about to crack a little bit…

“Shit, I can’t believe it… I never even dared to speak with him. You know when I met him at the pool party over at the Kappas at the end of the summer? I ended up next to him by the snacks table, but I couldn’t manage to form a single coherent sentence… How did you do it?”

Viola smiled a half smile at her. “He’s actually not that bad you know. He’s just a normal guy behind the abs and those baby blues…” she winked at her friend.

“So how did you meet him? He’s not been on a single date the whole semester as far as I’ve heard, and now you go from zero to kissing outside the cafeteria in one weekend…”

“Well… actually it might have taken a little bit more than one weekend…” Viola smiled apologetically at her friend and felt her cheeks blush a bit.

“What? You never told me you met him before…?”

“Yeah. Sorry about that. I’ve actually known him since senior year in High School…”

Rachel’s mouth dropped open and she held Viola back with a hand at her arm. She tilted her head, crossed her arms and raised her eyebrows in a gesture that said  _ I won’t walk another step until you tell me everything _ in a demonstrative way worthy of an old silent. Viola took a deep breath. She just had to rip off the band aid and get it over with…

“Ok, so I’m really sorry about holding out on you guys. The short story is that we’ve been going out for a while, but we sort of broke up before summer. I got mad at him and...well decided to ignore him and pretend I didn’t know him, to be honest. Not my proudest moment, I admit.” she smiled sheepishly at her friend. “Now we’ve talked and decided to get back together… I promise I’ll tell you everything you want to know some other time, but we’re running late for class now…”

They started to hurry towards their lecture, but Rachel was not quite ready to drop the subject yet. “I can’t believe you let me swoon over him like that without telling me he was your ex… Do Holly and Katie know?” she said, hitting Viola over the head with her book, but it was in a friendly way. Viola was glad that she didn’t seem too upset with her after all.

“Yeah, Cal showed up at the party this Friday at the dorm and made quite a scene…. Or we made quite a scene… I actually can’t believe you didn’t hear about it already. People have been terrorizing me ever since.”

“That’s what I get for going home over the weekend - I missed out on the event of the year, evidently…”

“Hmpf, I don’t know if I am prepared to call a loud, drunken argument with my ex-boyfriend the event of the year…” Viola said indignantly, but she was happy that the secret was finally out nonetheless. 


	15. Alex

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the guys make a new acquaintance, there's a girls' night, a party and Ellen is fretting a bit about her sad love life...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, in this chapter we finally get to know some of the new characters a bit better, especially Alex, who is kind of my favorite. Like, he's the kind of guy I'd fall for myself, so I'm excited to introduce him to you!

“So, we should have a party at our place soon…” Leo said, taking a large swig of latte and eyeing the left over half of a blueberry muffin sitting on the table in front of Viola meaningfully. She measured his stare, then smiled and pushed her rests across the table. She would never understand how her friends could eat so much, it was as if they had no limit. Now, the guys were all quite big, but Ellen too seemed to have no shame when it came to how much junk food she could consume in one day. Even if she did exercise a lot with Karate-training, Viola just couldn’t understand how she could eat like that and have a body like a model. It was truly unfair.

They were all sitting together in their favorite café on Campus, supposedly studying, but it was one of those days when all other topics of conversation seemed more interesting than their actual assignments.

“I thought we agreed on no parties?” Ellen asked, eyebrows raised.

“Yeah, but I mean… We don’t have to invite half the Campus, right? We’re starting to reach critical mass for a party ourselves now. With us five and Will’s new boyfriend… and perhaps Viola could bring her room mate, what’s her name? Holly? And some other friend perhaps? And you could ask Mike?” 

“It’s over with Mike…” Ellen said grumpily, and looked like she really didn’t want to talk about it. But Leo was not the type to read emotions or pick up on subtle hints.

“What? Why? You didn’t tell me that… I thought you really liked him. Damn, I really liked him…” He complained. 

“Yeah, then maybe you should ask him out…” Ellen snapped, this time actually managing to get the message through, so Leo dropped the subject and turned to Viola.

“But it would be fun getting to know your friends better…And you don’t see them as much anymore. Don’t you think they would enjoy a private party at the penthouse…?” he asked innocently.

“Yeah, right… that’s very nice of you to take an interest in my social life Leo…” Viola snorted with laughter. 

She had absolutely no illusions whatsoever that Leo’s reasons for wanting to get to know Holly better were anything but pure selfish. She was very much aware of the way he kept flirting with her every time they ran into each other at campus, which had been quite a lot since she and Cal had gotten back together two weeks earlier. He was right about one thing though. She had hardly spent any time at all, outside of the classes they had in common, with her friends lately. She had spent almost every waking moment with Cal, and most of her sleeping moments too, for that matter. It was an intriguing idea to have Holly and Katie over, and perhaps they could ask Rachel too? The only problem was that the odds were rather good it would end with Holly landing in Leo’s bed, which she didn’t know if she liked. Not that Holly didn’t deserve some fun, and Viola would be sure to warn her that fun was all she could expect when it came to Leo. But she also didn’t want a situation where the two of them couldn’t be in the same room anymore if things got awkward. 

“This weekend I will have to leave town on some family business… So perhaps the weekend after, if we want to do a party?” Cal suggested. He didn’t mind a more private party, since the parties at the sororities and at the dorms always were too crowded. At the moment, he was happy spending time with Viola and with his closest friends. And he wouldn’t mind getting to know Viola’s friends better either. He didn’t want to be accused of stealing her away from them completely. 

“Perhaps I can hang out with you and the girls from the dorm this weekend then, when Cal’s not here?” Ellen asked Viola. 

“Yeah, that would be fun! It was a long time since we did girls’ night out… I think you would like them Ellen!” Viola exclaimed, happily. She had stopped asking where Cal went away on his “family business” a long time ago. At least now she knew it wasn’t to visit some uncle in Metropolis, but as long as there weren’t any girls around she was happy. She once asked Ellen about that - if he would have girls throwing themselves at him at wherever - but she only shook her head and laughed so hard she almost cried, which Viola interpreted as a “no”. Viola wasn’t the jealous type, really, but sometimes it was just annoying to go out with such a hot guy. Everywhere they went, girls kept tripping over themselves when he came in to a room. She loved him, and she swooned over him at times too, to be sure, but sometimes, she just wished he would be a little more normal looking...

“Hey, so what am I supposed to do? If you hang out with Vi’s friends, Will is with Eric and Cal’s gone?” Leo pouted. 

“I thought you were going to ask Mike out…?” Ellen smirked, although she really hoped he wouldn’t. Not that it would do him much good; as far as Ellen knew Mike was straight as a ruler anyway...

*

In the end, Leo decided to visit his parents in Star City over the weekend, since there was nothing for him to do in Metropolis, and Ellen decided they should invite the girls over to the penthouse instead of going out since the guys were all gone. When the doorbell rang, Viola opened to let Holly, Katie and Rachel in, and Ellen greeted them in the door. 

“Hi, I’m Ellen, Cal’s sister… We met last week in the cafeteria, right?” she introduced herself to Rachel, whom she had never really talked to for longer than two sentences. 

“Yeah, I’m Rachel. Nice to meet you….” 

“Wow, this place is so cool…” Holly exclaimed and turned around a couple of times with big eyes in the large room that was a combination of hallway, living room and library. It was a large, open space, in the center of the apartment, with big glass panel windows on one whole wall and at least fifteen feet to the ceiling. There was a stairway leading up half a floor to where the bedrooms were situated, down the hallway from the kitchen, and Ellen showed the girls around the place. Except for the main room, the apartment had five bedrooms - each with an ensuite bathroom - a spacious kitchen, a guest bathroom and an office. It also had a large balcony facing eastwards, which was accessed through double glass doors from the kitchen. The balcony had a set of chairs and a table and Ellen told them that was where they usually had breakfast in the summer. 

“So, how can you afford a place like this smack in the middle of Metropolis?” Katie asked incredulously.

“Oh, there are four of us sharing… and we got a good deal on the rent…” she said nonchalantly.

“Yeah, right… like we would believe there is such a thing as a good deal on a place like this?” Holly raised her eyebrows. 

“Shit, are you guys rich too…?” Katie asked Ellen, and glanced at Viola, like it would be just too offending if her gorgeous boyfriend didn’t only have looks, but the money as well. But Ellen just shook her head and laughed.

“No, we’re not… I mean, we’re doing okay I guess, but to tell you the truth we couldn’t afford to live here if we hadn’t gotten a very good deal on the rent indeed. The place belongs to a friend of our parents who never uses it, and the deal is that we look after it and they can come and stay over in the empty bedroom if they need. In return, we don’t pay more than we would have been living in the dorms…” she explained with a warning glance at Viola. 

Viola didn’t know why she didn’t want to tell them it belonged to the Queen family, but she also had noticed that Leo had introduced himself with only the last name Sullivan to her friends earlier that week. She forgot to ask him why at that time, but she was sure Ellen would tell her later. And when they went out to the kitchen to get the snacks for the girls later, she quickly told Viola that Leo didn’t want anyone to know he was a Queen in Metropolis. At least not if it could be helped. Evidently, his dad hadn’t wanted any of his potentially reckless student streaks to land in the tabloids, and his mother had wanted him to experience what it felt like not to be a spoiled rich kid. She had not only cut his allowance to what she meant was a reasonable sum per month, she had also forbidden him to play the billionaire kid card to get into clubs or gain other advantages. Leo had taken it well, though, as he actually considered it a welcome change that not everybody had an opinion of him from the first moment they heard his name. 

As the evening went on, Viola was happy to see that her friends from Met U really clicked with Ellen as well. The girls only embarrassed Viola a bit by telling Ellen how she had pretended she didn’t know Cal at all, but she reckoned she had deserved that. Thankfully, they were all kind enough not to mention Viola’s different dates the last months. Viola, however, noticed how Holly showed an obvious interest in Leo, just as she had suspected.

“So, Leo is your cousin, right?” Holly turned to Ellen, sipping casually on her Merlot.

“Yeah, second cousin actually. But as our mothers are more like sisters than cousins anyway, we call him cousin…”

“He’s kinda hot though… Does he have a girlfriend…?” 

“Eh, no… but if you are getting ideas, you should know that Leo doesn’t really do girlfriends…or boyfriends for that matter... I love him like a brother, but he’s a bit of a player type to be honest.”

“Ah, but that sounds interesting… I don’t really do boyfriends either…” Holly smirked… “But it sure as hell is about time I got laid…” she added with a wink.

“Oh, if that’s the case, I’m sure he would be more than happy to oblige…” Ellen laughed, shaking her head. 

“I knew you would get me into trouble…” Viola sighed…

“What? How is me getting some going to get you into trouble, it’s not like you don’t jump that hunk of a boyfriend every chance you… oh, sorry Ellen, that’s your brother…”

“I just mean, if you sleep with him, then you probably won’t want to see him again, and then we can’t hang out anymore…” Viola interrupted before she could say anything else inappropriate about her lovelife in front of Ellen.

“Puhleeeaasee…” Holly huffed “I have a lot of exes I’m friends with…”

“Yeah, like that guy from your history class? You walk long detours around campus to avoid him…” Viola said accusingly.

“Yes, but that’s different. He wanted us to actually date. Like exclusively. He was all clingy and can’t seem to take a hint. So what’s a girl to do?” she asked as if there was an obvious answer to that question.

“I don’t understand why you are so afraid of commitment… Sometimes I think you’re just like Leo, but with tits…” Viola sighed. 

“So then we will be great together…?” she smiled triumphantly at Viola. 

“You can meet him at the party next weekend if you are coming. But I warn you - I will not let you walk in circles to avoid him afterwards.” 

“I won’t…”

“Can I get that as a signed contract…?”

As the girls got a bit tipsy, Viola felt like they re-lived the sleepover from high school, when they all wanted to know about her and Cal. Now she actually had juicy details to tell them, but she guessed Ellen wouldn’t be the least bit interested this time around either. 

“Sorry girls, I don’t give out details on our love life, especially not in the presence of any family members of his…” she wiggled her eyebrows a bit and smiled to send the message that they would get back to the subject of juicy details on another occasion. 

“Thanks, I’ve heard enough as it is…” Ellen smirked and the others laughed.

“So how about you Ellen… are you seeing anyone?” Rachel asked to change the subject. 

“Nope. I’m kind of tired of men at the moment…” she said in a tone that sent a signal that she didn’t really want to talk about it further.

“Oh... Take care my love… that savors strongly of bitterness…” Holly smirked, quoting one of her favourite movies. 

“Yeah, but I can see what she means though. I wish all guys could be as nice as Alex…” Katie sighed.

“If all guys were like Alex, we would never get laid…” Holly retorted with a smug smile.

“Who’s Alex?” Ellen wanted to know.

“Oh, it’s a guy from my computer science class.” Katie explained “He’s really great. Smart, and funny, and always helps me when I get stuck on some project. Which happens a lot, to be honest. I don’t know if I’m really cut out for the subject… When I was in high school, I was really good with computers, but when I got here, it’s like everybody else is light years ahead of me…”

“So, do you like him?” Ellen wanted to know.

“Just as a friend really. He’s a real geek, not at all my type. And I don’t know if he’s in to women at all to be honest. He’s been hanging out a lot with us lately, and he hasn’t shown any interest in a single one of the girls as far as I have noticed.” Katie explained.

“Is he gay? It’s a shame Will just met someone in that case… It wouldn’t be a bad thing to have a computer expert in the gang...” Ellen smiled.

“I don’t know…I haven’t seen him checking any of the guys out either. I think he just prefers playing with his tech stuff to be honest. ” Viola laughed. “But I agree, he’s a great guy. He really saved me when my computer broke down last month…”

“I would love to see him hook up with someone though... A man can only live that long on wet dreams about computers and cold fusion or whatever physics stuff he’s into.” Holly laughed. 

“Why don’t you bring him along to the party next week?” Ellen suggested. “Not that there will be many single people there, but at least he can enjoy being smarter than everyone else. And if he’s a good boy, we could show him the office...” she joked.

“What’s in the office…?” Holly asked, and Ellen bit her tongue and cursed under her breath. Viola understood from the look on her face, she had let something slip. She knew Leo’s mom was a real computer hacker, and she probably had some high tech equipment that they didn’t want outsiders to know about. 

“Oh, it’s just… well… the people who own the place have a real tech fetischism going on… but I don’t know if they would like us touching their stuff.” 

*

It was getting kind of late when the others decided it was time to head back to the dorm. Viola had meant to go with them, but she noticed Ellen was kind of off and she asked if she wanted company. In the end, she promised Holly she’d stay at the dorm the following night, and she made some tea for her and Ellen after the others had left. 

“Hey, are you ok Ellen?” she asked her when they sat curled up in the big couch in the living room. 

“Yeah, I guess… your friends are really nice.” she said, but stared absentmindedly down into her steaming cup of chai. 

“So, what’s wrong? I can see you have something on your mind…” Viola said. She was used to Ellen being very direct and normally not at all shy to speak her mind on any matter.

“It’s just… I felt a bit left out with all this talk about guys… Sometimes I wonder if there is something wrong with me…” 

“Why…? “Is it about that Mike? What happened with him…?”

“I don’t know… It’s not just about Mike… I mean, we only went out for like a month. But I thought I really liked him. That I was attracted to him…but...” she went quiet.

“So, what happened? Why did you break up?” 

“I slept with him…” Ellen said plainly.

“Oh… did he dump you after that?” Viola guessed.

“No, I dumped him…” Ellen frowned, looking ashamed.

“Oh… So you realized you didn’t like him after all? Or you weren’t compatible?” 

“I don’t know…. Can I tell you something…?” Ellen asked shyly.

“Yeah, of course…” Viola said, and placed a comforting hand on Ellen’s shoulder.

“It’s just… he was my first… I never slept with anyone before… And I don’t know if I was really ready. I think it was a mistake.”

“Oh, was it that bad, huh?”

“I don’t know… I don’t think so. I mean, he was really great and he worked so hard to… you know… make it good for me. But I just think there might be something wrong with me…”

“Why would you think that..?”

“It’s just… I really wanted to be with him… It wasn’t like he persuaded me or anything. I mean, first of all, I have been a bit curious about what it’s like for a long time. The way everyone goes on about getting laid… I wanted to know what the fuss is all about. And I was really attracted to him… He’s hot as hell, and we had a great time together before…that. And I felt more than ready. But when we did it, it just felt weird… It felt wrong.”

“Did it hurt?” 

“Not so much… a bit at first… but he was trying to be careful and take it slow so it wasn’t that bad… It stopped hurting, but it still didn’t feel good. It was… uncomfortable. I just wanted him to be done so he would stop, you know…” she said, almost in tears. 

“Oh, Ellen… don’t worry… as it sounds to me, you’re describing a typical first time experience…” Viola put her arms around her friend. Ellen sounded really anxious, and her heart bled for her friend.

“But what if I just can’t enjoy sex like everyone else…?” 

“No, don’t even go there… You know, I think you’ve read too many romantic novels, or watched too many movies. To be honest, I almost don’t know a single girl who actually enjoyed their first time. At least not so much that they managed to climax. It’s unfair, since guys never seem to have trouble with that, but that’s the way it is. It’s like the body has to get used to it first… Like wine? Remember the first time you drank wine? Not so tasty, huh? And now, you can really enjoy a good Merlot, right?”

“Really? So… can I ask you…”

“Yeah, my first time really hurt… He wasn’t even that gentle, but I was too scared to tell him to stop… I was a bit too young and stupid…” 

“But now, you... like it, right?”

“Hell yeah… I mean. It has to be the right guy in order for it to be really good. Not that it has to be the love of your life, necessarily… But I think you have to be sort of compatible. And if you’re really in love, it is amazing… Like the best feeling ever. I know you don’t want any details about…”

“No thanks…” Ellen interrupted her with a faint smile.

“So what about Mike…?” Viola asked, “Would you like to try with him again? Or go out with him if it wasn’t for that part? I think it would be sad if you ditched him just because of one bad experience…” 

“I don’t know… I liked him, and I was sort of attracted to him, I think. But I also don’t really miss him to be honest. And somehow I just don’t feel comfortable being so intimate with him. It felt wrong… I felt like I couldn’t be...myself…”

“How do you mean?”

“Well, for starters… Before we had sex, he didn’t really show that side, but in bed he was kind of macho… Like he thought it would turn me on if he manhandled me and carried me to bed. Not that he was rough, it was just like he wanted me to be a bit submissive, somehow. And that’s not really who I am as a person…” 

“Nope, that doesn’t sound like you…” Viola smirked.

“It’s just… Sometimes I wonder if all guys are like that deep down. I mean, do you think I will be able to find a guy who can handle that I could probably kick their ass if I wanted to?” Ellen asked, half joking, but Viola could hear the insecurity behind the words.

“I guess it could scare some guys… but still, if a man is secure enough in himself, he won’t need a girl he can take care of, if you know what I mean…”

“Yeah, but would it matter if she was actually… stronger than him?” Ellen asked, but quickly added “Or can I only look among the black belters in the dojo?” with a half smile.

“I think that you should probably look the other way instead… I mean, look for a guy who does_ not_ build his whole ego around his strength or fighting skills…”

“Yeah, I guess you are right… Perhaps I’ve been drawn to guys who are like me because I think they can handle me, but deep down I have felt that they really can’t when it comes right down to it… Sometimes I feel like I will never meet someone…” she sighed.

“Don’t worry Ellen. I mean. You are gorgeous, and funny, and smart, and strong… A real catch! Perhaps you are used to high school jocks, like Cal’s friends from Smallville, who are threatened by a strong woman. But I can assure you, not all guys are like that. It will be easier as we get older, that’s my guess…”

“Thanks Vi, you are a great friend, you know…?” 

Later, as Viola thought about the conversation, she was happy that she hadn’t mentioned Cal. At first, she had been on the verge of telling Ellen that Cal wasn’t threatened by her being a strong woman herself. But then she realized that it was probably a bad analogy if her suspicions about Cal were true. He could probably take her down easily, no matter how much kickboxing she trained. And when she thought about it some more, she wondered if there was more to it than Ellen training martial arts. She thought about the suspicion she had had back in high school that Ellen had the same power that Cal had. She hadn’t given the secret much thought since she got back together with Cal. It was like it didn’t really matter anymore. So, he probably had some kind of power, and it seemed he used it to help his family out with something about once a month. But it didn’t matter to her anymore. The only thing she had been a bit curious about had been the bracelet. She had been happy that Cal let her stay the nights now, and she had noticed that his bracelet usually stayed silver even when they slept or had sex. Had he figured out some other way to control his power or solve whatever problem he had had before? 

She thought a bit about odds that the twins were both meteor infected, it seemed a bit unlikely. Could their mom be, and they had inherited it? She didn’t know if meteor powers could be inherited, but she would sure look it up...

*

Viola didn’t have much time to research the subject though, between hanging out with her friends over the weekend, and managing both her school work and spending time with Cal in the week that followed. Both Katie and Holly were excited about the party, but it was obvious that Holly was the one who looked forward to it the most. Rachel couldn’t make it since she had her parents visiting town over the weekend, but they had managed to convince Alex to go. He wasn’t that into parties and he was a bit suspicious about Leo and Cal, who he knew by name and face, but had never talked to. He tried to tell the girls he wasn’t normally comfortable hanging out with the jocks, but Viola managed to convince him there were more to them underneath the surface.

“Come on, Alex. I know Cal happens to be a hunk, and yes, he played football in High School, but do you think I would actually go out with him if he was just all looks and no brains? You know me better than that…” She had argued.

“Yeah, I know you. But unfortunately, I also know what even smart girls will sometimes stoop to for the chance to squeeze biceps like that…” he smirked at her, but in the end, he had agreed to come. 

Viola and Ellen opened the door welcoming Holly and Katie, who stepped inside with Alex tagging along half a step behind. He was dressed in black jeans and a grey hoodie, with a deep blue t-shirt with a fibonacci spiral pattern on it under. He was only a couple of inches taller than Ellen, had rather thick, black glasses and a messy mop of lightly curled brown hair that fell over half of his face, but which was shorter in the back with a neat undercut. He wasn’t exactly thin, but standing besides Cal and Leo a guy of medium height and build looked rather small. Ellen noticed that he seemed a bit shy, but not exactly nervous. She guessed he just wasn’t as extroverted as some of her other friends. She also registered that he was really cute, in a nerdy sort of way. And under those thick locks of hair and the glasses, he had a pair of the most beautiful eyes she had ever seen. They were like deep chocolate brown with specks of gold in them, and she felt a strange feeling, like something was tugging at her lower belly, when she locked her gaze on his eyes and shook his hand. 

“Hi, I’m Ellen… Cal’s sister… you know; Viola’s boyfriend…” she said with a big smile, and her whole body was tingling a bit at his touch. It was an odd feeling indeed, Ellen didn’t really know what it meant, but she had never experienced it before.

“I’m Alex, thanks for the invite…” he said and smiled back, shyly.

Alex, Holly and Katie were also formally introduced to the others in the living room and Cal offered him a beer, which he declined in favour of a coke, while Ellen swept Holly and Katie away into the kitchen along with Will who was in charge of making some finger food. 

“This is quite a place you’ve got here... “ Alex said appreciatively to the remaining guys…

“Oh, I don’t live here… I’m here with Will…” Eric said.

“Yeah, we like it… it’s nice to have our own place” Leo smiled and looked pleased. “So do you live in one of the dorms?” he asked.

“Eh, no… I actually still live at home… sort of anyway. I share with my dad, but I live in the basement and I come and go as I want, so that’s ok. It’s cheap anyway…” Alex said with a shrug.

“Yeah, sounds practical… unless you want to bring home girls I guess…” 

“Or boys…” Eric added with a wink…

“Yeah, of course… I’m not the one to assume… I just didn’t pick anything up on my gaydar” Leo smirked. 

“Jesus Leo, you’re just impossible… It never occurred to you that you might just not be his type?” Cal sighed at his cousin.

“What? I’m everybody’s type…” Leo said with mock offense.

“Well, I don’t know… I think my dad would be overjoyed if I had a girlfriend, but I don’t date much…” Alex interrupted their banter with a very clear not-interested signal to Leo just to be sure. 

“No? Why not? Are the girls not into the geeky type these days…?” Leo wanted to know.

“Give the guy a break here Leo… Just because you have nothing else on your mind…” Cal interrupted him. 

He felt sorry for Alex, who seemed to be a really nice guy, just a bit shy and perhaps not the Casanova Leo considered himself to be. And he felt it was a bit rude of Leo to call him a geek, but he suspected he was a bit jealous of that Alex had come with Holly and Katie, who were two really attractive girls, and he seemed to be quite close to both of them. But Alex just laughed at the statement, as if he didn’t mind the epithet at all. Cal got the impression that Alex would probably rather be somewhere else right now, like in the library or something, and that he thought of Leo as a bit of an idiot. The girls had probably forced him to come along in order to come out and meet real people… But he didn’t seem judgemental either, just slightly amused.

“I guess it depends on the girl… But I really don’t have much patience with women to be honest, I have my plate full with classes, helping my dad with his business and some other projects I do on the side…”

“Like what projects…?” 

“Oh, I do a bit of programming for fun… and I build stuff… nothing that would interest you, probably. And I’m into online gaming too, which takes up a lot of time… If I hook up with someone it is usually at some gaming convention or something. I wouldn’t have time to entertain a regular girlfriend…”

“So you and Holly or Katie don’t...?” Leo raised his eyebrows.

“What? Hell, no… We’re just friends… Katie is great I guess, but she’s not my type really, I don’t know. And Holly… well, she’s _ really _ not my type…” he smirked. 

“What’s wrong with Holly… I think she’s hot as hell... “ Leo said incredulously, glaring longingly across the room where the girls now sat on the couch. Holly was wearing a pair of tight, washed out jeans, and an equally tight, black halter neck tank top which accentuated her rather large breasts and showed off just a little bit of skin at her thin waist, where it didn’t quite reach all the way to the hem of her jeans. She had curls in her long, hazel colored hair, and she was wearing just the right amount of makeup to highlight her beautiful face, without being too heavy.

“Hey, I think you are drooling a bit there mate…” Cal said smugly and pointed with his bottle at Leo, who ripped himself from his daydream with a stupid “Huh…?”

“Yeah, I guess she sort of looks good… but I just prefer women who can challenge me a bit intellectually…I mean, not that Holly is stupid, we just don’t share much of the same interests. And if I wanted a relationship, I would like it to be about more than just sex...” Alex said with a twisted smile.

“Uhm…. Okay.. That’s your problem man… But then you don’t mind if I make a move, right…?” Leo said, looking like a kid at Christmas when he contemplated the idea of a girl who just wanted sex...

“By all means…” Alex shrugged again and Cal smiled at him and rolled his eyes in understanding. He loved his cousin like a brother too, but sometimes he was just a bit much… He really hoped he wouldn’t mess up and hurt Viola’s room mate, that could make things complicated.

“So what classes do you guys take…?” Alex changed the subject, obviously tired of discussing Leo’s sex life. Cal couldn’t really blame him.

*

To nobody’s surprise, the clock didn’t even reach midnight before neither Leo nor Holly were anywhere to be seen, and Leo’s bedroom door was firmly closed, with a do-not-disturb sign hanging on the doorknob. 

“Real subtle Leo, though I doubt he needs a sign to stop people from barging in… I don’t think anyone wants to walk in on whatever happens in there…” Ellen shook her head and smiled at Viola as they went out in the kitchen to get more drinks. 

“Hm… yeah, I just hope this isn’t the last time we can invite Holly over…” Viola huffed. Sure, they were both grown ups, who knew what they were getting themselves into, but she still didn’t like it.

After a while, Will and Eric had also said goodnight, claiming they had an early appointment in the morning. Alex got the distinct feeling that there were others at the party who wouldn’t mind shutting themselves up in the bedroom either. He smiled at Ellen and Katie with a small nod at Viola and Cal who were making out quite indiscreetly on the couch.

“Perhaps it’s time to call it a night…?” he suggested.

“No, don’t you guys dare leave me alone with those two… Who wants to play games…?” she picked up a throw pillow and started beating at Cal. “Hey, stop that and be a bit more social you horny bastards. It’s not even midnight…” she continued and they reluctantly broke apart looking a bit flushed. 

“So what do you want to play?” Alex asked.

“Whatever she can win at…” Cal snorted out a laugh.

“Shut up moron…” Ellen ordered her brother “you are the guests, you can choose.” se offered Katie and Alex

“So what do you have?” Katie asked.

“Hmm… let’s see… Video games or board games?” She asked to narrow down the choice.

“Video games? What console do you have… I can’t even see a screen…” Alex looked around a bit confused.

“Aaahh… we have it all... “ Ellen smiled a triumphant smile and pressed a button on the wall opening up a box on the ceiling that concealed a video projector. Then she opened a cabinet at on the side of the big, white, wall exposing all their game consoles, hand controls, various games, routers, a computer and the latest Apple TV.

“Holy shit...” Alex gaped with big eyes.

“Oh, that was a bad move… now you will never get rid of him.” Katie laughed but Ellen wasn’t too sorry about that.

“It’s not ours, obviously…. It belongs to the people who own the place… Or, well… The Nintendo is mine and some of the games for the PS8… But we can use everything…”

“Wow…” Alex was still almost speechless but got up and started going through the games. 

Two hours later, Katie had fallen asleep on the couch and Cal and Viola had snuck off to go to bed. It didn’t seem like Alex and Ellen even noticed, though. They were locked in some kind of never ending battle, taking turns to choose games they thought they could beat the other at. They were obviously both sore losers and although Alex was a more experienced gamer, Ellen had the advantage of having some games in her stash that Alex had never played before. 

None of them seemed willing to give up the battle, until they were startled by Holly, who suddenly came sneaking out into the living room.

“Hi there… you’re still up?” she asked.

“Some of us…” Ellen laughed with a nod to Katie who snored on the couch.

“Perhaps I should wake her up so we can get home…” Holly suggested.

“What? You’re not staying?” Alex asked her.

“Nah, I prefer waking up at home and avoid the awkwardness of breakfast…” she smiled smugly.

“Hey, you promised Vi it wouldn’t get awkward…” Ellen huffed.

“It won’t, I just don’t like the morning after thing… Next time there is a party or something, we’ll be fine… I swear.”

“So, you had a good time then…” Katie, who was now awake, asked, sitting on the couch and rubbing her eyes.

“Mmmhmmm…” Holly smiled wiggling her eyebrows with a satisfied grin on her face.

“Oh, that good…” Katie nodded in understanding. “Well, congrats then…”

“So, I’ll call it a night too and keep you two company, your dorm is in the same direction as my place from here…” Alex said with a yawn and a stretch.

“Ok, but we’re not done here…” Ellen said, crossing her arms in front of herself, a bit huffy that she had lost the last game. She also realized she didn’t really want Alex to leave… She really enjoyed his company, and she felt something tug in her lower belly every time their eyes met. She studied him where he sat with his legs crossed on the couch, his messy hair now tied up in a small bun at the back of his head so it wouldn’t interfere with his sight. She couldn’t help thinking she found his cute nerdy look kind of hot. He was so laid back and confident in some way, but not at all like the presumptuous jocks who usually hit on her. And he had a really charming smile… She swallowed hard. Damn, this was the friend of Viola and the others who didn’t seem interested in girls, right? So she’d better snap out of this silly daydream right now.

“Why don’t we call it a tie for now?” Alex suggested with a smile. “You know, next time, you should come to my place and play some online games…” he suggested and Ellen felt her insides do a backflip at his suggestion. 

“Oh, yeah… that sounds cool…” Ellen said casually, but the girls noticed a distinct blush on her cheeks. 

*

“Hey, earth to Ellen…” Ellen was ripped from her daydream when Viola hit her over the head with one of her books. 

“What?” 

“I asked if you wanted another coffee…? Where were you?” Viola asked her friend. They were sitting in the cafeteria at Campus, trying to study, but Ellen had just zoned out for like the tenth time in an hour or so. Viola didn’t want to push her to open up, but she had her suspicions.

“Oh... I was just thinking about something... Isn’t Katie’s computer science class finished soon? I thought we could all meet up, right? I was wondering if she could maybe get Alex to come along…? I mean, I think I might have gotten a virus and perhaps he could look at it… If you text her… tell her I’ll buy him a coffee if he does.” she said, trying to sound indifferent. She stirred her latte absentmindedly while Viola sent her text, but her heart was pounding a little bit faster than usual and from the smirk on Viola’s face she suspected her friend could tell. 

It turned out Katie had plans to get together with her study group from computer science at one of the Carla’s Cupcakes that was situated just outside Campus, but as Alex was also a part of the group she suggested Ellen and Viola could come by later. If he couldn’t help her, there was bound to be someone else who wouldn’t mind reaching out to a pretty damsel in distress… Ellen muttered a bit at that suggestion; she didn’t like to be called a damsel in distress any more than she actually had a problem with her computer. If she really had, she could have asked Leo first… And she knew Viola knew that very well, but she was kind enough not to mention it.

When they got there a couple of hours later, they found Katie and Alex in a corner booth together with one other girl, two guys and way more computers than five people could possibly need. Ellen felt a bit nervous as they got closer to the table, and she was fidgeting a bit with the clasp to her handbag until she saw Viola give her an amused smile. 

“Shut up…” she whispered under her breath, but in that moment Katie saw them and waved.

“Guys, this is our friend Viola, Holly’s roomie… and Ellen, she’s…”

“She’s my best friend, and my future sister in law, maybe…. right, El?” Viola grinned.

“That’s right…” Ellen smiled back “depending on how long you can stand hanging out with my stupid brother…” she added and Viola hit her playfully on the shoulder. 

“You know Alex already…” Katie started and went on to introduce the others, but Ellen didn’t catch their names because at that moment she met Alex’s golden brown eyes and she zoned out again…

“Hrm… yeah… sorry to disturb you, but I was hoping Alex could help me out with a problem I have with my computer…” Ellen said after a while, blushing a little bit when she finally ripped her eyes away from his. 

“Sure, do you have it…?” Alex gave her a shy smile.

Ellen handed him her laptop and helped him log on to it, feeling a distinct tingling sensation when she happened to brush against his arm with her hand. She swallowed hard and tried to focus on her mission. She suddenly felt extremely stupid… when did she get so insecure around guys? Why didn’t she just ask him out instead of making up this lame story, he would probably see right through it anyway. 

“This is really great, thanks Alex… I can buy you a coffee or something to eat if you’d like?” she suggested innocently.

“Oh, I’m good at the moment…” Alex said.

“And since this is your dad’s place, you don’t pay for the coffee anyway…” one of his friends sniggered. 

“Wow, I didn’t know your dad owns this place…” Ellen said, looking around with renewed interest.

“He owns all the Carla's Cupcakes…but this is the one where you’ll usually find Alex since he works here too sometimes...” his friend added, but Alex glared a bit at him like if this was something he didn’t want people to know. 

“Ok, so I’ll just find something else to bribe you with… I could buy you pizza sometimes... Or take you to check out the competition over at Starbucks?” Ellen suggested.

“Really, it’s ok… I’m happy to help. Besides, you invited me to the party last weekend, right?” he gave her a reassuring smile.

Ellen sighed internally. Either he didn’t understand that she was trying to get him to go out on a date with her, or he wasn’t interested and tried to let her down easily. Damn.

“I can’t find anything just doing a quick scan, but I don’t have a good antivirus program here… what’s wrong with it anyway?”

“Oh… it’s suddenly a bit slower than it used to be. And sometimes it just freezes even if I’m not doing anything special…” she lied thinking this was something that was hard to prove hadn’t happened. “Perhaps I can bring it to your place later, or you can come by the apartment if you have time…?” 

“Hm, ok… today I’m a bit busy actually, I’m going for a run after we finish here and I have a game tonight…”

“Oh, I didn’t know you were into running…?” Ellen said surprised.

“What, I don’t look like the jock type, huh?” Alex smiled at her and bit back a laugh.

“No, I didn’t mean…” she blushed a bit.

“I’m just kidding with you… It’s actually almost necessary exercise to be really good at E-sports you know? I can’t concentrate on the games very well if I haven’t worn myself out physically. And it’s also scientifically proven that aerobic exercise for a minimum of thirty minutes at least three times a week makes you smarter…” he smiled at her.

“I didn’t know that... maybe I should try adding a run to my weekly routine. I do Karate twice a week, but other than that I don’t move much to be honest.” Ellen said.

“See…” Viola interrupted. “That’s what I always told you, you can start running with me in the mornings…” she grinned at Ellen.

“Ugh… mornings… I was never much of a morning person… But anyway, back to my computer problem…” she changed the subject. She was a little disappointed that Alex had other plans, and even if he had; why didn’t he just suggest that she could run with him? Ellen never had had much patience, and she couldn’t believe that he wouldn’t be quicker to come up with something if he was interested. But she wanted to give him at least one more chance to agree to see her.

“Oh, right... if you’re free tomorrow I can try to help you...” Alex said. “Unless you’re in a hurry to get it fixed, because I’m sure someone else could help you out tonight?” he looked around at his friends.

“No… tomorrow’s fine” Ellen said a bit too quickly. ”I don’t need it tonight anyway, we’re going to the movies…” she quickly made up some plans not to sound so desperate. “Look, I’ll give you my number and you can just text me when you have time and tell me where to meet you…” she held out her phone and started the app to share contacts. 

“Ok, I’ll do that…” he said and picked up his phone to hold it against Ellen’s. 

“Great… if you come by our place, you can get me a re-match on the big screen too, you owe me that, remember?” she dared flashing him a rather flirty smile. 

“Oh, so you want to lose again Lane…?” he smirked at her, but she was happy to notice a faint blush on his cheeks when she held his gaze a little too long.

*

Katie left the café together with Viola and Ellen; she just chattered on about her assignment and Ellen didn’t say a word, but Viola had a really hard time not commenting on the exchange. She didn’t want to embarrass Ellen though, so she bit back her urge to tease her. At least while Katie was still there…

Alex’s classmates stared at him when the girls had left, but he didn’t say anything. After a while he couldn’t ignore them any longer.

“What?” he asked, and raised his eyebrows.

“Oh, come on… What’s going on between you and Ellen Lane?” one of the guys asked.

“Nothing… she just wanted help, that’s all… She’s friends with Katie and I went to a party at their place last weekend, other than that I don’t know her.” he tried to sound casual.

“Ok, so let me sum this up for you… One of the top five hottest girls on campus just came hunting you down with some fake computer problem, tried to get you to go out to have pizza with her, gave you her number and invited you over to play video games… and all you can say is “nothing”?? Are you playing dumb or are you this stupid?” 

“Don’t be absurd… she was just being friendly so I’ll help her out. She’s really cool, actually… but she’s a sore loser, and she probably wants revenge since I beat her at her own games last time…” he smiled a bit at the memory.

“Ok. If you say so… But I’ll make you a little bet… If there’s anything at all wrong with her computer, I’ll buy you lunch after our next class, but in return, you’ll tell me exactly what happens on your little date if I’m right…” 

“I told you, it’s not a date…”

“Yeah, whatever…so are you on?”

“Deal”


	16. Robbers and annoying fathers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which we get our first glimpse of Ellen being a hero... and also, Superman makes a come back!

During the weeks that followed, Alex, Katie and Holly started to hang out with the others from time to time. The guys really liked Alex, although he was a bit different, and they did their best to drag him along on social activities, as they called it, since they thought he deserved a bit of a break from his science and computer things, and from his “nerd friends”. They didn’t always succeed though, since Alex usually preferred spending time with his computers or his science projects and his other friends. He did help out with any tech problems they might have though. Leo was quite skilled in the area as well; it’s hard to grow up with a professional hacker for a mother without picking up one or two things. But he wasn’t really as interested, and it was clear that Alex was a real computer wiz. Unless he was there to help out, Viola noticed that he seemed more interested to tag along if the girls were also around, or at least one of the girls in particular. She didn’t tell Ellen of her suspicions, because she didn’t want her to get her hopes up unless she was right… Alex was a hard one to read.

He rarely missed out on an opportunity to play video games with them on their big screen projector wall though, and Viola figured Ellen had realized this, since she suddenly seemed interested in arranging game nights with the gang on a fairly regular basis. She had always liked playing video games by herself when she had the time, but she wasn’t really a gamer and she had rarely arranged any official sittings before. Now however, she had done it twice in one month. Tonight, she had invited them over for an all nighter with burgers and games, and Alex had accepted even though Katie and Holly had preferred to go to a party at their dorm. Leo didn’t seem too happy about that, but he also did his best to conceal that fact and stayed for game night anyway. Luckily, Holly had kept her promise of not letting things get too awkward between her and Leo. He had seemed a bit disappointed the morning after the party to find Holly gone, but a week later she had landed in his bed again after a movie night. And even if none of them wanted to confess, Viola suspected that Leo might have spent the night in their dorm room on at least two occasions, when she was staying over with Cal, and Leo didn’t come home.

After pressing Viola a bit on the subject of what Holly was doing and with whom, Leo had finally dropped it and enjoyed himself playing games with the others. After a couple of hours Cal and Ellen went out to get food.

“This is yours Cal… and the double bacon burger with fries for Leo, one veggie burger for Viola, and one vegan burger with fries for Alex…” Ellen finished handing out the orders when they got back.

“You’re vegan?” Leo raised both eyebrows in astonishment, looking at Alex.

“I prefer plant based… and I’m not always that strict to be honest. But I don’t eat meat and I avoid animal products if it’s not too much trouble, yes.” he answered politely.

“Why?” Leo asked again, still looking surprised.

“Why not?” Alex shrugged, and Viola bit back a laugh. She was used to the question herself as a vegetarian and could sympathize with Alex. It was sometimes tiring to always have to defend your life style every time you have dinner with someone.

“Ok… I was just curious if it was for ethical or environmental reasons or something else…?”

“All the reasons, I guess… I mean, it’s obviously better for the climate, more energy efficient, uses less antibiotics and less land to grow the crops. The science also clearly shows it’s healthier. For example, eating whole food plant based as much as possible reduces the risk of heart disease, cancer and diabetes… And with all that said, I see no reason to have animals killed just for the taste of them… I honestly never even liked meat that much.” he explained with a small sigh.

“Yeah, yeah… but I still find it would be hard to live without meat. I mean, I need to keep my testosterone levels up in order to maintain my reputation as a real stud in the bedroom…” Leo smirked and flexed his biceps in what was probably meant to be a manly way.

“God, you are such a caveman sometimes, I can’t believe we share any kind of genes…” Ellen rolled her eyes at him.

“Actually, that’s a myth anyway… If you look at the scientific data, research shows that vegan men have higher testosterone levels and less problems with erectile dysfunction…” Alex interrupted before Leo had a chance to bite back and put a french frie in his mouth.

Both the girls were laughing now, and even Cal found the argument a bit funny. Leo wasn’t stupid, but he sometimes chose to ignore facts he didn’t like, and he hated to lose an argument. And Cal was pretty sure this was an argument he was going to lose.

“Sorry, I didn’t know you had problems in the bedroom…” Leo smirked.

“I don’t, but I plan on having a long and healthy life, with the possibility of enjoying sex in my golden years… And the fact is that all age related health problems start building up from quite a young age, so I see no reason not to start following the science now…”

“Oh, so you’re not interested in sex when you are twenty, but you think you will be when you are seventy?” Leo laughed, thinking he had finally made his point.

“What? I never said I’m not interested in sex… I said I didn’t have time for a steady girlfriend… and I do think there are higher purposes in life than getting laid… My love life might also not be the topic of conversation I would choose the first time I meet new friends.” Alex answered casually, dipping two more french fries in ketchup.

Leo went quiet for a while, thinking of how to get the upper hand in this argument, but he had the distinct feeling it was a losing battle. It was hard to defy logic from someone who actually knew the science. And he really didn’t doubt Alex in that department. He knew nobody who was so scientific in his reasoning and so well educated in any area that actually interested him. So it was time to try a more personal attack.

“So are you trying to tell me that french fries are healthy?” 

“Nope. I do actually think they might be less unhealthy than meat. But I eat them because I like them, not because they are healthy… it’s an indulgence I let myself enjoy. Like coffee, or coke… I’m not saying I always follow the science, I just like to choose for myself when to divert from it instead of being fooled by commercials and bad journalism…” he said, continuing to chew on his fries.

“Oh. So it’s ok for you to choose to ignore the data when it suits you, but you think you can tell me not to eat meat?” Leo said with a displeased frown.

“No, I didn’t tell you what to eat. I just corrected your false assumption that it’s necessary to eat meat in order to entertain a healthy sex life…”

“No no, I’m sure you started this conversation by telling me it was wrong to eat the burger…” Leo narrowed his eyes and looked at the girls for support. But Viola just kept on rolling on the floor laughing. Ellen shook her head and gave him a rather patronizing smile.

“Sorry Leo, I didn’t hear him say any such thing. I think you might have interpreted what he said about himself as an attack on you based on your own prejudices about vegetarians…”

“Oh, god.. I think I’m in love with Alex…” Viola still laughed so hard she had tears in her eyes. 

“Hey, stop that. You’re in love with me, remember…” Cal smacked her playfully in the head.

“Ok, so I might just have a little crush on Alex’s brain, but I still love you for your body handsome… Perhaps you should adopt a vegan lifestyle too, or I might have to ditch you when you get too old to perform in the bedroom...” she laughed.

“Hmmpff… That’s not funny…” Cal muttered, looking a bit huffy, but in reality he did think it was a bit funny actually. Especially the look on Leo’s face...

*

Ellen, Viola and Holly were slowly becoming regulars at the Carla’s Cupcakes around the corner from Campus. Ellen claimed it was practical since that’s where Katie usually met up with her study group, and that way, they could all see each other even when they were swamped with assignments. Viola wondered if she was the only one who could see through Ellen’s lame excuse for changing her favourite café, but nobody said anything about her and Alex, and thus, neither did she. Although she noticed that Alex didn’t seem to mind too much that they kept disturbing him, either when he was studying or when he sometimes jumped in to cover a shift as a barista if it was needed.

Ellen always loved when he worked, because then she could hang out at the bar and talk to him without feeling that she distracted him from his school work.

“You know, I never would have imagined that you could whip up such a great latte… You’re obviously not just smart and really good with computers and E-sport and stuff… what else can you do?” Ellen asked Alex one day when she had come to the café alone, and he happened to be working. In fact, she knew that he was since Katie had told her, but she had lied and sounded surprised to find him behind the counter.

“I can also see through people who try to give me compliments in order to get free coffee really quickly…” he joked and gave her a lopsided smile, while he wiped the counter in front of her. 

“Hey, you know I don’t do that… I was serious. Besides, you already gave me the coffee…” she winked at him. “So tell me, what other secret talents do you have…?” she raised her eyebrows and gave him a rather seductive smile, which made him blush a bit. 

Ellen smiled and felt a bit satisfied with herself. Sometimes, she could flirt rather shamelessly with Alex, and throw him hints that she wanted him to ask her out, and he didn’t seem to react at all. She had considered what Katie and Viola had said about him before they even met; that he didn’t seem to be in to girls at all. But then there were these moments, when something quite innocent would make him blush. And sometimes their eyes met for just a little too long, and none of them would look away. Ellen couldn’t since she her gaze was somehow magnetically drawn to him and she felt a bit gooey inside, but he didn’t either, and she wondered if it meant something. But he never openly flirted with her, or asked her out no matter how many openings she gave him. Didn’t he get it? Or was he really not into her after all…? True, when the others were around, she kept her distance too, but he would be able to see through that, right? She knew he was shy and she didn’t need for her very unsubtle friends to start making fun of them. And truth to be told, Ellen felt a bit insecure around Alex… 

She was used to getting guys’ attention and she had sometimes flirted around at parties or made out with someone, but it never meant anything which meant it didn’t make her doubt herself. It was something about Alex that made her insecure, and it wasn’t only because he didn’t seem to woo her like most other guys she could wrap around her pinky if she wanted to. Somehow, he seemed to be so secure even if he was shy and a bit introverted. But it was still as if he really knew his worth, and he knew what he wanted. It wasn’t easy to bring him out of balance. But today, Ellen felt brave and a bit mischievous, and his small blush encouraged her to see if she could get some other reaction out of him, so she went on with her little interrogation when he just shrugged…

“...like… do you cook as well?” she raised her eyebrows, and met his eyes while she took a sip of her coffee and licked it off her lips, still holding his gaze. The oldest trick in the book of seduction techniques, true, but today she was on a mission. She smiled a small triumphant smile when she actually noticed his heart rate increase a bit and he swallowed hard and cleared his throat before answering. But when he did, his voice was steady and more humorous, and he seemed once again totally unaware of what she was doing.

“...I don’t know if I would call my cooking a talent actually… I mean, growing up with a single father, I guess I have done my share of cooking in my days, but it’s nothing I do unless I have to.” he answered indifferently. But after a brief pause he added “There are other ways I’d rather spend my evenings…” and when he met her eyes with a steady gaze she thought she noticed the tiniest hint of a mischievous sparkle in his golden browns, and he raised his eyebrows so quickly it was almost not possible to notice, which made Ellen the one to blush this time. He quickly looked away though and went back to cleaning the espresso machine.  _ Oh, no, you don’t get to pretend nothing happened, you coward…  _ Ellen thought. 

“Oh, that’s too bad…” she said, taking another swig of coffee and waiting for him to bite.

“Why is that?” he said, raising his eyebrows clearly this time, probably thinking she didn’t catch the potential double meaning of what he just had said and Ellen went for the killing strike. 

“Well, I’m like a federal disaster in the kitchen, so if we ever get married, we’ll just have to live from take out…” she said innocently and almost bit back the urge to laugh when he dropped the metal jug he was holding with a loud clunk.

Sadly, at that exact moment Holly entered the café and Ellen was a bit disappointed that Alex got out of her attack so easily when he greeted her and killed the subject. But she noticed his voice was cracking a bit at first, and he didn’t look at Ellen for several minutes.

“Hi, Holly… what’s up? Katie and Vi aren’t here…” Alex said, obviously struggling to compose himself.

“Hi Alex, that’s fine, I was actually looking for Ellen…” she said and gave her a friendly hug.

“Oh, what for?” Ellen asked curiously. She didn’t know if she had ever even met Holly without the others before and they had nothing special that they shared.

“I actually wanted to talk to you about Leo…” Holly said, blushing a bit.

“Ok, so what about him…?” Ellen asked. 

“He asked me out on a date…” Holly said, with a bit of a weird look on her face.

“Oh… Ok. And would you say that’s a good or a bad thing…?” Ellen asked, feeling a bit confused. She knew for a fact that Holly had slept with him at least five times, but she was obviously a bit insecure about the idea of dating him.

“I don’t know… I mean, I really like him… but I just thought it was casual, you know? I’m not really interested in a relationship. I’m scared that he will think we’re serious if I accept… but if I say no he might feel rejected and then he might not want to see me again…” she gave Ellen an apologetic smile, as if she knew it sounded kind of dumb.

“So did you ask him? Like, why he suddenly wants to go out after spending several nights rolling around with you in bed?” Ellen asked her bluntly. 

“Eh… no, I guess I didn’t…” she said sheepishly…

“Well, I always think that just being straightforward with what you want is the best way to solve problems… Right, Alex...or what do you think?” she gave Alex a piercing look which made him blush a bit again, but Holly didn’t seem to notice.

Before Holly could answer, Ellen registered a really quick and loud heartbeat, and at first she wondered if she had finally gotten to Alex, but then she realized it came from behind her. Someone who was really nervous was approaching the counter and before she could react she saw Alex’s face freeze. She was just about to turn around and see who it was, when she felt something cold against her throat. She realized at once that it was a knife and she felt someone tugging at her hair.

“Hand me the money or this one will lose her pretty head…” a harsh, male, voice said. “No tricks…”

Alex held up his hands and Ellen noticed that his face went white, but when he spoke, his voice was just as steady as ever.

“Don’t do anything stupid man… I’ll do whatever you say, just let her go…” he said calmly, but Ellen could hear his heart pound violently in his chest.

A million thoughts went through Ellen’s head. She glanced around to see if there were any security cameras, and there was one just above the counter.  _ Damn _ … She was pretty sure she could take the guy down without Alex and Holly noticing anything suspicious, but she didn’t want to get caught on camera in case she slipped up. But she could probably destroy the tape later if it got out of hand, she figured. She was not letting this idiot get away with scaring her friends like this… She took a deep breath to gain control over her powers and counted to three, then she moved really quickly, but avoided using superspeed. She pulled the hand with the knife from her throat, and spun around, swiping his legs and before the others really could understand how it had happened, Ellen had the knife in one hand and the thug lay flat on his face with his hands twisted behind his back and one of her knees pressing him down.

Alex practically came flying over to her side of the counter and wrapped her up in a tight embrace. 

“Shit, Ellen, I can’t believe you just did that… you could have died…” he gasped, sounding absolutely terrified.

“I didn’t get a black belt in Karate to let some idiot with a blunt knife scare me, you know…” she said, but she was too caught up in the warm, fuzzy feeling of being held in Alex’s arms to really be able to sound cocky.

“Uhm… Ellen, that so called idiot has been robbing cafés and restaurants for months… he actually killed a hostage who tried to resist him a couple of weeks ago.” Holly said, sounding a bit insecure, like she didn’t want Ellen to be frightened. 

“Really? Well, I guess he picked the wrong girl this time...” she said, but decided to sound a bit nervous so she could remain in Alex’s embrace for just a little bit longer. He didn’t seem too eager to let her go either, and his heart was pounding heavily in his chest. Ellen briefly wondered if it was because he got scared or because of the same reason hers did the same. She tilted her head up and met his beautiful eyes, still keeping a foot firmly placed on the unconscious form on the floor. He met her gaze for several long moments and she felt her mouth go dry. He cupped her face with his hand, but he didn’t lean in to kiss her. She just had time to wonder if he would object if she tried. It was perfect, really. If he pulled away, she could claim temporary insanity due to the recent fright… But at that moment she heard an all too familiar whooshing sound, followed by sirens, and she jumped away from Alex, almost as if she had been burnt. 

“Everything alright in here? There was a report about a hostage situation on the police radio…” Clark said, using his best Superman voice, although he had some trouble keeping his voice straight. What he wanted to do was to scream at Ellen and ask what the hell she was doing knocking out a robber in broad daylight in the middle of a café. And who the hell was this guy she was clinging on to like if her life depended on it. It didn’t look like he had it in him to be the one who was responsible for the unconscious thug in the ski mask on the floor. 

“Well, he was the one taking hostages… trying to take hostages… eehh…” Ellen stammered, pointing to the floor, but she quickly went from nervous to angry as she met her father’s narrowed eyes and saw his accusing posture, arms folded across his chest. And she did not like the way he was staring at Alex either.

“What? I was just having coffee, minding my own goddamn business, when this idiot ambushed me from behind…” she snapped.

“Oh, well, miss Kent, perhaps you should be more careful next time, you could have gotten hurt…” Clark stared her down and she could read the translation clearly.  _ You could have been caught. _

“I prefer  _ miss Lane _ , actually…” she said defiantly, putting her arms to her side “after my  _ mother _ …” she added, clearly stating her displeasure in her father. 

“Is that so… Well, I beg your pardon  _ miss Lane _ … But I think you will have to step outside and give your statement to the Police now, I’ll make sure they don’t get your name wrong…” he muttered, leading her out through the door after signaling to a Police Officer where the robber was.

*

“So, explain yourself… did anyone see you use your powers…?” Clark said as soon as they were out of hearing range.

“Hey, keep your tights on, I didn’t even use my powers, I swear… just some karate-moves. Nobody saw anything. And what was I supposed to do? Let him take me hostage, rob the place and get away with it.?”

“Of course not, but you should have let me handle it…” Clark huffed, although he knew it was stupid as soon as he had said it.

“And how the hell was I supposed to know you were on the way? I heard no sirens, no alarm, no nothing…” she snapped.

“I’m sorry… I just got a bit worried, that’s all…”

“If you worry, you could have Chlo hack the security camera, but I’m sure I didn’t use any powers at all. But if you dare using it to spy on me and my friends…” she narrowed her eyes at him.

“Yeah, who is he, anyway…?” Clark asked, trying to sound innocent.

“He’s just a friend… he works there and he got scared when the robber threatened me, nothing happened…” Ellen said, glaring at her father accusingly again. “...but do me a favour, and don’t let Chloe listen to the tape if she hacks it. I was kinda talking to Holly about Leo just before it happened and it might not have been a conversation suitable for a mother’s ears…” she suddenly added, realizing what they had been saying…

“So, you have a secret boyfriend who works in a café and a friend who says things about your cousin his mother shouldn’t know about…. And it’s all on tape…Useful” Clark smirked, half amused, half exasperated.

“Don’t you dare…” Ellen’s eyes widened, but she had to bite back a grin. She knew he was joking - his father would never use his position in the League to invade her privacy… or would he?

“I’ll save you the eavesdropping…. For your information, Alex and I are just friends. And he works extra there because his father owns the place, he’s normally studying computer science at Met U… And yes, Leo slept with Holly, who is Viola’s roomie. But it’s nothing serious… at least I don’t think so… so please keep it from mom and Chlo, you know how they are…” Ellen pleaded.

“If you say so... but you know you shouldn’t lie to Superman, you know...” he said, seeing his daughters faint blush.

“Ok, so I might have a bit of a thing for him… but I swear, nothing has happened. I don’t even think he likes me, so please don’t embarrass me, ok?” 

  
  


“Ok, so now we want to know everything….” Holly exclaimed as Ellen came back into the café. Alex didn’t say anything, but Ellen saw he looked at her a bit suspiciously. “Not only do you have mad Karate-skills, but you know Superman personally?” she said.

“Oh, I don’t know about personally… Let’s just say that my secret talent is getting into trouble…” she tried to shrug it off with a joke. “Luckily, my mom was raised by a four star General and I have been trained in self defence since I could walk… but I have to confess I may have gotten into a bit of trouble Superman had to pull me out of once or twice before… Not to speak of my mom, she holds some kind of record in being saved by various members of the Justice League” she grinned sheepishly.

*

Alex had a hard time sleeping when he got into bed that night. There was something odd going on, for sure. At first he had just been too shocked and too worried about Ellen to notice, but thinking back, there was something a bit off about the way she had been acting during the attack. Even if she was trained in self defence, she had been way too cool about it. No matter the color of belt in Karate, people who had knifes pressed to their throats tended to get a bit nervous. But it had all been over so quickly, and then he had been completely wrapped up in thinking about what could have happened to her, and after a while; in the feeling of having her in his arms… Before she had jumped away like he had the plague. Or like she was afraid someone might see them… Someone…? Superman? She had freaked out when he came in. That was the thing that was the strangest. She didn’t seem starstruck, or intimidated at all. It was like she was ashamed of what she had done, like if he had caught her with the hand in the cookie jar, doing something she shouldn’t have… Why, though?

Since he didn’t like mysteries, he had hacked into the security camera to go over the events of the day again, but much to his chagrin, he had found the drive wiped completely clean. He could only think of a few people who could have done that, without leaving even a trace for him to follow, and none of them would have had a reason to. Except perhaps the Justice League, if there really had been something off about the events. The League was rumored to have a wicked hacker on their team, nicknamed The Smoke, and anyone he knew who had even dared to try to hack any of their equipment had ended up with all of their hard drives and accounts wiped absolutely clean and all of their digital presence erased. It was enough of a threat to keep all hackers at an arm’s length. Alex himself had never even tried, except for the fact that he wanted to keep his virtual life intact, he figured it wasn’t the best way to start a relationship with them if he ever wanted to work with them… which secretly was his biggest dream. Considering this fact, he was a bit surprised himself that he hadn’t been more starstruck today, meeting Superman. But although the heroes were obviously cool, the science department and the hackers were his real heroes. If he ever found himself face to face with The Smoke… he would probably faint...

When he finally fell asleep, he had a weird dream where he was walking down the aisle together with Ellen, but then a shadow-like figure interrupted the wedding, claiming he wasn’t worthy to marry her because they had dug up evidence he didn’t have any secret talents at all to contribute to the marriage. Then The Smoke hacked his way into Alex’s computer and erased his entire existence, and when he turned to tell Ellen he was sorry, she didn’t know who he was and she turned to run away into the arms of Superman, who flew off with her. Alex woke with a start and sat up in his bed. He drank a glass of water and sighed to himself when he checked the time. 03:15 Am… Crap. He wasn’t going to be able to fall asleep again. His thoughts drifted back to the part of the dream that had Ellen walking next to him in a white dress... Double crap. She was getting to him. He couldn’t let this happen. He had to be more cautious around her.


	17. New friends and foes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which we meet a lot of new people, for good and for bad, it's Ellen's turn to be inconvenienced with a new superpower and there's a heated debate regarding who's relationship material and not.

Even though Alex was slowly becoming part of their regular social group, Viola, Ellen, Cal and the others rarely met any of his other friends. Leo speculated it was because he was ashamed of them for being too geeky. Cal and Ellen thought it might actually be because he was ashamed of his new friends for not being smart enough. In reality, it was more a question of Alex thinking they might not really mix too well. He had never been much of a matchmaker anyway and he didn’t really see the point of bringing them together since they didn’t really have much in common. 

One day in December, Ellen, Viola and Will ran into Alex in the café. Ellen tried to get him to join them for another game night the following Saturday, but was disappointed to hear him say he had plans to go to a concert with some of his gamer friends. When she asked about the band, it turned out to be a new indie rock band that Viola really liked too.

“Oh, wow, I love them! I didn’t know they were playing in Metropolis! That’s so cool… I didn’t know you listened to them” Viola said, actually rather surprised that she and Alex turned out to share a taste in music.

“Yeah, they have recorded the title theme for the new release of the Battle of Legends zombie quest, so they are kind of popular among the gamers at the moment too…” he gave her a smile.

“So would you mind if I came along with Cal and Ellen, and if anyone else wants to go? Or do you want to hide us from your smart friends… We can pretend we don’t know you...” she winked at him.

A little snort from behind Alex drew their attention to the barista who was busy making a latte. It was a new guy whom Ellen hadn’t seen before. He was about Alex’s height, but had longer and much darker hair, pulled up in a scruffy ponytail at the back of his head. He was dressed all in black, and he had tattoos sticking out under his rolled up shirt sleeves. When he turned around, he had a smirk on his face and a mischievous glint in his dark eyes that told Ellen Alex would hear about this later. 

“Shut up Nico…” Alex sighed, but he looked rather amused. “No, it’s cool…” he told the others “I’ll meet you guys there… and I actually think some of my gamer friends would love to meet you. At least the girls…” he laughed, but Ellen felt her heart sink a bit. Ever since the incident in the café, he had made sure to keep her at a secure distance. He wasn’t unfriendly or anything, but those moments where she thought he might be flirting with her after all were becoming really rare. He barely met her eyes anymore, and he sure didn’t say anything that could seem like he was insinuating something. But he always seemed happy to see her, and he had told everyone at the café that Ellen wouldn’t have to pay for coffee anymore, since she had saved them from a robbery. He was being a very good friend, who was now obviously dying to introduce her to his other friends, who might be interested... It sucked. 

Ellen was so wrapped up in her thoughts, she evidently didn’t quite follow what was happening around her.

“Oh. My. God.” Will exhaled, sinking down against the wall as soon as they were outside the café. 

“What?” Ellen asked, but Viola snickered behind her. Evidently, she had missed something.

“If you hadn’t been so busy drowning in a certain pair of golden brown eyes… you might have noticed the new barista…” she explained.

“I did… kind of scary looking dude?” she asked, still not getting the point.

“Oh, yeah… that was one way to put it… ”

Ellen still didn’t get it, but Viola rolled her eyes. “Come on Ellen, I’m madly in love with your brother, but even I have to admit he was smokin’ hot…”

“He was… like… wow…” Will sighed, evidently not able to find words.

“Oh…” Ellen said sheepishly. So what if she only had eyes for Alex at the moment?

“We could always ask Alex if he’s coming to the concert? Or at least which way he swings?” Viola suggested, wiggling her eyebrows at Will.

“You’ll do no such thing. Thank you, but I don’t need to be embarrassed by a guy that soon again after the last failure of a relationship. He’s probably straight anyway. And even if he isn’t, he’s evidently way out of my league” he pouted in response. 

They had all been a bit surprised when Eric had turned out to be cheating on Will and the break-up had been a fact a couple of weeks earlier. They had seemed to be really good together, and even if Will never claimed it had been the love of his life or anything, it had taken more than a few nights of wallowing in misery, old rom coms and buckets of chocolate ice cream before they had managed to convince him that the idiot wasn’t worth the energy it took obsessing about him. Thus, Ellen thought it was a good sign that Will had evidently stopped sulking long enough to at least open his eyes and look at someone else. Yeah, she would at least ask Alex about him, that much was certain...

*

They met up with Alex and his friends in the club where the band was playing. It was in a small basement, painted all in black. It was crowded, dark and filled with smoke coming from machines by the stage. It was at least an hour before the concert would start when they were introduced to Alex’s friends. In the end, it had been Katie, Leo, Ellen, Viola and Cal who had gone to the concert. W ill hadn’t been interested in going out (although Ellen suspected he might have been more so had mr Smokin’ hot Barista been likely to show), and Holly had a date. Leo didn’t really like the band, but he also didn’t want to be left alone. He was obviously furious that Holly had gone out with someone else, but he refused to confess that. Except for sleeping together every once in a while, Holly had agreed to let Leo take her out on a couple of dates, but only after doing what Ellen had suggested; namely making sure it didn’t mean they were going to be exclusive. 

“No, I mean… we agreed on keeping things casual. I don’t do relationships, and neither does she, you know. So she can go out with whoever she wants to… I don’t care.” Leo said, for the third time in half an hour as he and Ellen were talking, standing a bit apart from their friends.

“Sure about that Leo? You seem to think about it a lot for someone who doesn’t care, you know?” Ellen smirked. 

“Not more than you care about that little blonde thing with the piercings who is hanging all over Alex…” Leo snapped, which made Ellen narrow her eyes and shoot daggers at him. They never talked about Alex, but Ellen knew that Viola knew… but how on earth had Leo figured out her secret crush? She didn’t even think Cal had...

Alex had arrived with four of his gamer friends; a petite girl with a lot of piercings and heavy black makeup, who reminded them a bit of a blond version of the main character from “The girl with the dragon tattoo” and who ironically was called Liz. There was also a more normal looking dark girl, Bea, who seemed to be more of a science geek type than a hacker. But it was all just their prejudices speaking since they hadn’t talked about much else than the band so far. They were accompanied by two other guys, who both looked like they didn’t often leave their basements. They all seemed nice enough at first, but Ellen was a bit annoyed at the way the little blonde was hogging all of Alex’s attention. At the moment, she had pushed him away a bit from the others and they were talking animatedly about something, while Leo and Ellen were getting on each other’s nerves.

Suddenly, Alex and the girl came back to the group, but Ellen still didn’t get the chance to talk to him since he went to get drinks with the other guys almost immediately, while the girls were left alone at their table.

“So you brought two seriously cute friends here… But they are taken, I assume?” Bea joked as the guys left. 

“Yeah, well…one of them is at least. Cal’s with me…” Viola said quickly “...but Leo is sort of single…”

“Sort of single?” she asked again.

“Well, he claims he doesn’t do relationships but we think he’s crushing on one of our other friends…” Katie said.

“Bummer…” Bea said. 

“Well, she’s on a date with some other guy tonight, so if you are interested in some casual fun, he would probably take anybody home just to get back at her…” Viola laughed.

“But none of you are interested in that then…?” she said.

“God no…” Katie said. “He’s really not my type…”

“And he’s my cousin…” Ellen said. “Not that I would sleep with him in a million years even if he wasn’t…” she added. 

Bea looked at Liz with raised eyebrows but Liz just rolled her eyes at her friend.

“You go ahead and make a move if you want, I was planning on dragging Alex home tonight…” she smiled smugly and Ellen felt her heart sink in her chest. She suddenly realized she didn’t like blonde little pierced girls at all…

“Oh, are you and Alex dating…?” Katie asked, sounding interested. She obviously hadn’t noticed the look on Ellen’s face, but Viola glanced nervously at her friend.

“Nah, not really. We used to go out for a while, but since none of us really have time for relationships right now, we just hook up for a bit of casual fun sometimes…” she answered nonchalantly, and Ellen had to force back the urge to punch her in the face. 

“Oh, wow. I didn’t take him for the casual sex kind of guy…” Katie said, raising her eyebrows.

“What, you think geeks don’t like to get laid?” Liz gave her a bit of an arrogant smirk… “Let me tell you a little secret ladies... If you want to have great sex, you should try to hook up with a smart guy who actually does bother to read up on how it’s supposed to be done, instead of some jock who’s trying to learn from watching porn. There is actually science behind the art of pleasuring a woman, you know…” 

Ellen felt like her blood was boiling. Not only was the little bitch obviously sleeping with Alex, now she was also insulting her brother and her cousin. She hadn’t mentioned them, but Ellen saw the way her eyes flicked in their direction and the smirk she did a bad job of hiding as she talked. She felt like she couldn’t take more of her rudeness without getting into trouble - a bar fight wasn’t anything she had planned tonight - so she excused herself and said she had to go to the ladies. She saw Viola also looking a bit disturbed, but she wasn’t as easily provoked and she just shook it off and smiled at Liz.

“Yeah, well, am I lucky that Cal’s got both the body and the brains then…” Ellen heard Viola say as she left the group. 

Ellen stood in line waiting for the ladies room, even though she didn’t really need to go. She briefly considered just lying her way out of the evening somehow, but she knew nobody would believe her if she claimed sudden illness. She watched as Alex and one of his gamer friends stood by the bar while the other guys made their way back to the girls with the first round of drinks. She hated herself for sinking so low, but she couldn’t help herself. She focused in on their conversation, only meaning to hear if Alex said anything about going home with Liz. But once she started listening, it was almost impossible to stop.

“Your friends are nicer than I thought they would be… ” Alex’s friend said, but he sounded more polite than sincere.

“Yeah, they’re not so bad actually, once you get to know them… Cal’s cool really. His cousin is a bit of a dick sometimes, but he’s not as bad as he seems to be at first. I haven’t really figured him out yet. Sometimes I think it’s a facade… Like if he thinks he has a reputation as a jerk to uphold. He’s actually a quite skilled programmer, could give some of you guys a match really…”

“Really…? I haven’t even seen him in computer science...”

“Yeah… who would have known, right. No, for some reason he’s wasting his talents in business school and pretends he hardly know anything about computers. But I can see the way he follows when I show them something, and once he actually found an error in my code. I figure I will get him really drunk and ask him about it sometime.” 

“But what about the ladies, huh? Can’t believe you’re hanging out with chicks like that Alex… Aren’t they a bit out of your league?”

“Yeah, well… it’s not like that… We’re just friends… And you know Katie from our class too, right?”   
  


“Sure… Well, you can introduce me to her friend with the ponytail...Ellen?..any day… I don’t even care if she didn’t pass high school maths, she’s like the hottest girl I ever talked to…”

“I just did introduce you, idiot… and I don’t think you’ll make much of an impression on anyone with that attitude…” 

“I’m just kidding… Better for guys like us to stick to what we can handle... Right? Speaking of which… you going to let Liz drag you home again tonight…?” 

“Nuh, wasn’t planning on that actually…” 

“No? She was all over you dude...” 

“Yeah… but I’m not really in the mood…”

“Okey pal… spill... so who is it? It’s the Ellen girl, right?”

“What?”

“You seriously claiming not to be interested in one of your friends over there…? But you’re not in the mood to go home with Liz tonight to get some…? Yeah, right…”

“I’m just not interested in Liz anymore… so just drop it, ok? ”

Ellen felt bad about eavesdropping, but she was also obviously relieved that Alex didn’t seem interested in Liz. A bit too relieved, actually. She stood in the bathroom and splashed some water on her cheeks to cool down. It was no doubt… she was really falling for him, hard. Damn. She hadn’t meant to do that… Part of her really wished he could have said something about her, but he hadn’t even said he agreed with his friend about her being hot. Nor had he objected to the assumption that she might not even have passed high school math. Perhaps Alex didn’t think she was smart enough for him? She had been standing too far away and in the wrong angle to be able to see any of his expressions, but she found herself really hoping that his disinterest in the little blond girl might be because he had developed feelings for her… But she didn’t dare to get her hopes up. It could just as well be about Katie. Or just that he didn’t feel like hooking up with Liz. Even if they had a history, it didn’t necessarily mean he still liked her. It could just as well mean he was sick of her attitude by now. Damn, this was just too confusing… By the time she got back to the others, her heart was pounding hard and she felt really nervous.

Cal gave Ellen a strange look when he handed her the drink and she sent him a warning glare back. She knew he could hear her heart hammering in her chest, and he was probably more than confused why. Had he finally noticed the tension building up between her and Alex? Or was it just on her side? She didn’t know if he felt it too. When she came back, Alex met her eyes briefly and gave her a small nod, which felt like a punch in the stomach. She noticed Cal eyeing them suspiciously and she didn’t dare to look at Alex anymore. But she didn’t have to worry. He was in an animated discussion with his friends about the smartest way to integrate some plugin into some program code. She didn’t understand half of what they were saying, and she instantly felt discouraged. Nope, not smart enough… 

Ellen felt like the evening was progressing very slowly, and she started to regret coming along. It was obvious she didn’t fit into Alex’s group of friends, and she was quite certain who he would prefer to spend time with if he had to choose. Leo was in an unusually bad mood too, so the two of them stood sulking in a corner while the others were talking and laughing. Ellen could see that Alex glanced in her direction from time to time, but he probably just wondered why she was so moody. When the band got ready on the stage, he came up to her though, asking if she didn’t want to join them in the crowd closer to the stage.

“Come on Ellen, you won’t see anything from back here…” he gave her one of his cute, lopsided smiles, looking at her from under the thick locks of wild, brown hair that hung in his face, and Ellen felt herself blushing under his gaze.

“Yeah, I’m coming…” she said reluctantly, staring at his feet since she didn’t trust herself with looking at his face anymore.

“Hey, what’s up with you tonight…? You seem a bit off?”

“Nothing, I’m fine…”

“Really? I’m a smart guy you know... “

_ Yeah? If you were you would realize I was in love with you and understand why I’m a bit off…  _ Ellen thought, but she said “I just feel a bit… out of place. Like I don’t fit in with your friends I mean…”

“What? That’s a paradox you know. You’re my friend so how could you not fit in with my friends?” 

_ Because I don’t want to be your friend, moron….  _ “Yeah, sorry… I meant with your other friends…”

“You hardly talked to them, so how would you know? They’re actually nice once you get to know them. They just rarely talk to girls they don’t know so well, so they might have been a bit nervous…” he grinned at her.

“Ok, so maybe I was referring more to the girls… I talked to them when you got drinks…” Ellen muttered, feeling stupid and jealous. Why had she mentioned this at all? She should have smiled and claimed that everything was great. Now she didn’t know how to get out of this conversation without sounding like a complete idiot.

“Ah…” he said, with a look of understanding on his face and an amused smile…”It was Liz, right? Sorry about her, she can be really rude…”

“No, really... you’re not saying?” Ellen said with a voice full of heavy sarcasm.

“Don’t care about her, she’s probably just jealous…” he said, smiling again.

“Why would she be jealous…?” Ellen looked up at him, feeling a small glimmer of hope in her chest.

“You’re funny sometimes…”

“What?”

“You really don’t see it…?” he asked incredulously, raising his eyebrows, which was just barely possible to notice due to his messy hair covering his forehead. Ellen just shrugged.

“Ok, let me just explain it to you… You and your friends are all really… how should I put it… blessed with above average looks, right?” he started to say.

“Gee, thanks. That’s the most romantic thing a guy has ever said to me…” Ellen couldn’t help but burst out laughing.

“Humor me, I’m just being objective, ok? The thing is that sometimes people like Liz tend to get jealous of the pretty, popular people. Even if they pretend they don’t care, and they hide behind piercings or geekiness… Secretly, their only defense is to assume that they are at least smarter, right? And then she meets you...and Viola and Katie. And you are all both beautiful  _ and _ smart… So she will conclude it’s unfair, and the only defense she has left is to try to insult you…”

“She insulted the guys actually. She kind of insinuated that Leo and Cal were stupid jocks who doesn’t know how to please a woman in bed because they watch too much porn…” Ellen said, looking at Alex and feeling her lips twitching. Alex burst out laughing…

“That’s hilarious… talk about an obvious case of sour grapes…” he said, still laughing.

“Yeah? Sure about that? I got the impression that she has a thing for you actually…” Ellen said, and her eyes flickered nervously between him and her feet. 

“Nah, I think it’s just convenience.. We used to go out for a while. A really short while. And she probably just thinks it would be easier to get me to go home with her than to invest a lot of energy in getting to know some new guy just because she wants to get laid…” 

“So, is she right? ...I mean, will it be...easier…?”  _ Shit, did I just ask him that…? _

“No, I’m done with her… Don’t worry. I’m not going home with her if she insults my friends…” Alex smiled and nudged her in the side with the elbow. “Come on now, the band is going to start playing any minute…” he said and headed towards the stage. 

They joined the others in the crowd, and Ellen couldn’t help noticing the glare that Liz sent in her direction. She didn’t believe for a second that it was just laziness that made her go after Alex. She was definitely in love with him, even if she didn’t want to confess it… 

It was really crowded in front of the stage. Alex stood just behind Ellen and she was very much aware of the way his body was pressing against hers as the music started. She could even feel his warm breath on her neck, and she felt the hair on her back raising as shivers went down her spine.  _ God this is crazy… _ she thought to herself. No guy had ever been able to evoke such a strong physical reaction in her. She swallowed hard and briefly wondered if he felt it too.  _ No, it doesn’t mean anything. It’s just crowded on the dance floor, that’s all…  _ she told herself. He suddenly leaned a bit forward and whispered something in her ear. She thought it was some comment about the band. At least, that would have been logical. But she really had no idea. The only thing she noticed was how his lips briefly brushed against her ear and it felt like an explosion of feelings concentrated to that small area of skin. She could not understand how she could be so intensely aware of a square inch of her own body. Like if nothing else in the world existed but that tiny patch of skin that he had just barely touched with his lips. 

Slowly, his words made their way through the synapses of her brain, and she realized he had asked her if she recognized the song from when they had played the game that had it as a theme. Ellen turned around a bit so she could answer him and suddenly they stood face to face, bodies still firmly pressed against one another. She leant in to answer him, and just for a short moment, their eyes met before she pressed her lips lightly to his ear. Ellen felt a distinct flutter in her belly, and when she felt his skin against her lips, it was a if her legs were made of jelly. She felt the heat pool in her lower belly and between her legs and she noticed his heart beating faster too. At that moment, someone bumped into them, and they were pressed even more firmly together. She wondered if he could feel how hard her nipples were when her breasts pressed against his chest. As unfair as it is, men have an even harder time to hide their arousal, and Ellen could definitely feel that he was growing hard where her lower body pressed against him. She wanted to kiss him so badly, but she didn’t even dare looking at his face. They could still get out of this pretending as if nothing had happened. They were just friends who happened to stand close to each other on the dance floor, right? But if they kissed, everything would be different… And even if she could feel and hear his body reacting to her, it didn’t mean that he actually had feelings for her, right? He was just a man, after all. And as he had pointed out himself, she was an above average looking female who happened to be pressing her body against him….

He made no attempt to kiss her either, but when he spoke into her ear again, she was almost sure he deliberately let his lips linger on her skin for a fraction of a second and he had put one of his arms on the small of her back, as if he needed to pull her closer to say whatever he was saying. Her brain had lost the capacity to think again, so she didn’t know what it was. Instead of answering, she let slip a small moan and she grind her body even closer to his, now distinctly feeling his hardness against her hip. It suddenly was as if her whole body began to ache and burn and she felt the heat spreading from between her legs up through her spine and into her head. And finally, into her eyes.

“Oh, Fuck…” she exclaimed, and turned away from him, pushing her way through the crowd, almost knocking some people over with her strength. She closed her eyes and quickly reached for her bracelet to turn the blue k on. She could hear Alex’s voice behind her as she rushed towards the exit.

“Ellen… what happened? Are you ok?” 

“Yeah, I’ll be fine. I just got a bit dizzy… Can you get Cal for me, please?” she gave him a pleading look and he frowned, looking a bit worried.

“Yeah, of course…. are you sure you are alright? Maybe you should sit down?” he suggested and led her to a chair.

Alex turned around but saw that Cal was already paving his way through the crowd. He raked one hand through his messy curls and shot a nervous glance at Ellen. What the hell just happened? When she first had dashed away from him he had been scared that it was because she had realized how much she had affected him. She must have noticed his embarrassing state when she stood pressed against him on the dance floor. He should have pulled away from her much sooner, of course. All his efforts to ignore Ellen and not let her notice that she was getting to him were suddenly undone and he cursed himself internally. It had been stupid, but it was like he had been in a trance. He couldn’t make himself move away. He didn’t know if it was the music, or the weird situation tonight with Liz assaulting him and the way he thought he noticed Ellen seemed a bit jealous, or just the fact that the crowd made it possible for him to enjoy being that close to her and get away with it. Or at least, he had thought he could get away with it, until he could feel every inch of her body against his and her lips touching his ear. The way she smelled was just intoxicating, and somehow her body seemed almost warmer than it was supposed to be. 

When he had felt her tits against his chest, nipples hard and tempting, he had completely lost control over the reactions of his own body. At first, she didn’t seem to mind though, on the contrary. He was almost sure he had heard her moan slightly, which made him almost panic.  _ How on earth am I going to get out of this if she tries to kiss me now…? Do I even want to…?  _ He had thought, but then she had suddenly panicked and fled. At first, he thought it was because she had realized what she had done to him a little too late, and he had wished the crowd would just swallow him whole and send him into another dimension before he could go after her. But when she asked for her brother, that explanation suddenly seemed a bit odd. What was Cal supposed to do about it? Hit him because he was coming on to his sister? Or rather, for being turned on when she was kind of coming on to him? No, Alex knew she would definitely prefer handing out the punches herself if she was mad… And the look on her face was more frightened than angry, or disgusted. Perhaps she was ill, after all. Her body temperature seemed to signal that. Had it been pure coincidence that it had struck just when they were in that intimate situation? Alex didn’t really think so, but he couldn’t come up with anything better at the moment.

Cal heard at once that something was wrong with Ellen. It wasn’t like he knowingly paid attention to her heart rate or what she was saying or doing on a regular basis. But it was as if they always had some connection where they would notice if the other one was in danger. Now, he turned his head around and saw Ellen dash towards the exit, followed by Alex, who stopped her and forced her to sit down on a chair. He pushed his way through the crowd as well, with Viola following him, also wondering what was going on. 

“What happened…?” Viola asked with a worried look as she laid eyes on Ellen’s frightened expression. 

“It’s nothing… I just don’t feel so good all of a sudden. Cal, would you take me home, please?” she asked, sending her brother a meaning glance.

“Sure, El… no problem.”

“Do you want me to go with you?” Viola asked.

“No, that’s fine… you stay and enjoy the concert. You can come with Leo afterwards… We can all meet back at our place for the after party. I’m sure I just need to lie down for a bit, and maybe have something with alcohol to drink…” she said with a faint smile.

*

“What happened?” Cal wanted to know as they stepped out into the cold winter night.

“Let’s talk about it at home…” she answered.

“Speed or walk back home?” Cal asked.

“Speed… is anyone watching?”

They got back home to the empty apartment, and Cal made some tea for Ellen, who was still pretty shaken up. She told him about the burning sensation and that she suspected that it might be heat vision after all. Cal actually got quite excited and tried to get her to test it, which resulted in a minor accident with a molten candle holder, and a decision to go to Smallville the day after and practice with their dad in the barn instead.

“Yeah, it’s better when he’s around with his arctic breath. I did that all the time in the beginning…” he gave the molten heap of metal on the balcony a quick nod. 

“This is just terrific! Now I’m going to be a walking fire blaster out of control for months just like you were…” Ellen huffed.

“Yeah, at least you don’t have a boyfriend whom you’ll have to try to keep out of your pants while you’re practicing…” Cal said and raised his eyebrows. “Or is there something else you would like to talk about…?” he smirked.

“No…Just... shut up… ok…?” she blushed.

“Oki… but we will have to address the Alex-shaped elephant in the room sooner or later, you know… You can’t seriously keep telling me nothing at all happened. I do know how the heat vision works after all…” his lips twitched slightly as he gave her an innocent look. 

“Nothing really happened, ok..?” she snapped. “It’s true. That’s actually the scary part… so we stood a bit close on the dance floor and we were talking, but it was so loud we had to whisper in each other's ears… And...so...maybe his lips kind of touched my ear by accident. But I swear, we didn’t even kiss. And suddenly I felt like I was going to explode, and my eyes started burning…”

“Touched you by accident, huh…?” Cal smirked…

“You don’t think so?”

“I don’t know… it seems kinda obvious… You didn’t notice any...eh...physical reaction on his part?” 

“Well, I did hear his heart beat a bit quicker… and there might have been some other reaction too, or he just had something weird in his pocket…” she giggled.

“Uhum…” Cal nodded, smiling…

“But that doesn’t necessarily mean anything, right? He’s a guy, after all...? That sort of thing can happen even if you’re not in love with someone?” she asked innocently.

“Well, it clearly shows he’s attracted to you anyway… I can’t promise you love… Would you want him to be?” Cal asked her earnestly. 

“I don’t know… I think I might have feelings for him… I guess I have for a while, but I just didn’t want to confess to myself how serious it was. But tonight, when that blond hacker girl was clinging all over him, I just felt like ripping her ugly, pierced little head off.” she made a face at Cal.

“Woah… Yeah, I also think the part where you almost set fire to the bar just because he was standing next to you was a dead giveaway actually…” he said smugly.

“So what do I do now? I don’t even know if he has feelings for me or if it’s just attraction. Or if he wants anything to happen… I mean, he hasn’t really made any attempts to flirt with me, or ask me out or kiss me or anything, and I can tell you it’s not because of a lack of opportunities… But no matter how many openings I give him, he’s just treating me like any of his friends. And I kind of overheard him telling his gamer pals he’s not interested. If it wasn’t for what I just felt on the dance floor, I would have thought he hasn’t even noticed that I’m female...” 

“I don’t know Ellen… he’s not as extroverted as you. I don’t think he’s the type who flirts openly like Leo for example. Anyway, we know he likes you and that he’s attracted to you, right? That’s not a bad start… But you’ll have to choose if you want to make a move and confront him about it.” Cal answered.

In reality, he was almost sure Alex at least had a crush on Ellen. He had noticed how he kept looking at her when he thought nobody saw him. But for some reason he seemed dead set on concealing it from everyone. If it wasn’t for the way he always, somehow almost subconsciously, looked after his twin sister, he might not even have noticed. 

*

An hour later, they heard the door open and Leo and Viola came into the living room. Ellen felt her pulse quicken as she saw that Alex was standing in the doorway too, looking a bit lost, with his hands in his pockets and an uncertain smile on his face. He was so cute in his messy hair, and with black jeans and a hoodie over some geek t-shirt, as usual. “Entropy happens” this one said, and Ellen couldn’t help but smile at him.

“Sorry, I hope I’m not interrupting anything… I just wanted to see that you were ok…” he said to Ellen, where she sat curled up on the couch leaning against Cal’s shoulder.

“No, it’s fine… just needed to sit down for a bit. I think I forgot to eat today…” she smiled apologetically at him. “I did promise you guys an after party, right?”

“Let’s grab something to drink” Leo suggested and they all went out into the kitchen to search for drinks and snacks.

“Do you smell something burning?” Viola asked suddenly.

Cal glanced out at the balcony where the molten candle holder was still sitting on the concrete floor. “Not anymore…” he mumbled, wanting to hit himself in the head for forgetting to hide the mess they had made.

“Whatever happened with that thing?” Viola asked with wide eyes.

“Eeh, we had a bit of an accident when I tried to light the candles with the blow torch…Sorry about that” Ellen said and looked nervously at Leo, who was staring at her.

“What was it made of? Brass? It melts at like 1700 Fahrenheit… That must be a hell of a blow torch you’ve got…” Alex said incredulously. He tried to open the door, obviously interested in a more thorough investigation of the subject.

“No, just leave it there… We’ll take care of it later. Let’s hear about the concert…” Cal suggested, grabbing a beer and and going back out into the living room hoping the others would follow.

They went back to the topic of the concert and the band and sat for a while, chatting in the living room. The atmosphere was a bit tense though. Leo was curious to hear the real story about the fire accident, and Alex realized they were lying about it as well. He couldn’t even begin to understand what had possibly been able to cause that mess without burning down the whole apartment. There was also a bit of a weird tension between him and Ellen. None of them wanted to talk about what had almost happened on the dance floor, but it was hanging heavily in the air between them. She kept glancing in his direction as soon as she thought he didn’t see, and he did the same. Sometimes, when their eyes met, he felt an electric pulse flow through his body. He was thinking about if he should just bolt before she could confront him… or if it was for the best that they talked? It could hardly get more awkward between them anyway. But he never got the chance to make a decision before the doorbell rang, and Cal got up to answer it.

Holly came storming into the living room, with a stern look on her face. She made a beeline towards Leo, without even saying hello to the others. 

“Damn you. You have ruined everything…” she yelled and slapped him in the face. 

Leo just stood frozen, totally nonplussed. The others glanced at one another, but nobody seemed to understand what was happening. It was obvious Holly came straight from her date. She was dressed in a tight, red dress with a rather generous amount of cleavage, and high heels. Her hair was stylish with curls in it, fastned with a clip at the back of her head. Her makeup was perfect and her nails sparkled. She would be absolutely stunning, if it wasn’t for the fact that her face was distorted in a furious frown.

“What did I do…?” Leo asked incredulously.

“You texted me right in the middle of my date and asked how it went, remember…?”

“Yeah, I was just trying to be a good friend…” 

“Ha, sure…” she huffed, eyes still flashing with anger.

“So, how  _ did _ I go…?” he asked cautiously.

“It went to hell, thanks to you…”

“Just because I asked you a simple question…?”

“No, because all I could think about was you…”

“Oh…”

“It was a great date! Cute, polite, funny, perfectly nice guy who took me to a really fancy restaurant… But I just couldn’t focus. And then you sent that text, and he asked me who it was from… And I felt like I cheated on you. On him. I don’t know. On everybody. And then he kissed me…”

“You kissed him…?” 

“Yeah, and I had plans to do a lot more than that, mind you. But noooooo…. I just couldn’t focus on him at all, I just kept wondering what the hell you were doing…”

“Sorry….” Leo said in a small voice, but he didn’t really sound sorry at all.

“Yeah, I hope you are! You have ruined everything! I never want to see you again…” she screamed.

“Eeeh, what?” he asked, confused. Neither Leo nor the others in the room could really follow where the conversation was going at the moment.

“I have to stop seeing you… This is all wrong… I can’t even date other guys anymore…”

“So…. why don’t you date me instead?” 

“No, Leo… don’t you see what’s happening here? We’re in a relationship. An actual relationship. I don’t want that and neither do you, remember? It was supposed to be casual… but when you can’t see other people anymore, it has stopped being casual.” She said, tone a bit calmer now and plopped down on the couch between Viola and Ellen with a sigh. 

Nobody spoke for a while. None of the others dared, and Leo didn’t really know what to say. In the end, he decided to be honest. Sure, there were witnesses to his confession, but they were all his friends. And he figured they had already guessed how he felt already anyway.

“But I don’t want to stop seeing you Holly…” he said, giving her what he hoped was an earnest look.

“Yeah, but you don’t want a relationship either, right?” she answered.

“So what if I do…? I don’t know… are you sure it would be so bad if we tried it out?” he said.

“Do you want a drink?” Ellen squeezed in before Holly could answer. She figured Holly could use both a break to think about the bomb Leo had just dropped on her and something to wash it down with…

“Do you have any red wine?” she asked, and Ellen went to get her a glass. She took a big swig of Merlot and sighed before she turned back to Leo.

“I’m sorry Leo, but I really don’t want a relationship… and especially not with you…” she sighed.

“What is that supposed to mean?” he protested indignantly.

“First of all, I know where relationships end up. Either you get your heart broken, or your life ruined…” she said with a sad smile.

“Can you elaborate on that, because you are not making any sense….” he muttered.

“Ok. So let’s say we start going out and we fall in love… I’ll tell you how it would end… Before I know it, I will be stuck as a housewife with two kids and a mortgage and we won’t be able to afford that I finish my degree and go to work because we can’t pay for a nanny and we will have to put my college funds into a down payment on some stupid house in the suburbs, and I can kiss my career and any plans I had for my life goodbye…”

“Uuuuhm… are you sure that’s the only way a relationship can end…?” Leo said, raising his eyebrows with an almost amused expression.

“I have seen it… Look at my sister. That’s exactly what happened to her! And I have plans for my life, you know? I want to be a doctor and I want to help people. That’s why I worked my butt off to get into med school. Not because I wanted to quit halfway through and dedicate my life to some guy…”

“I’m not sure all relationships end that way, though…” he said. “I’m not trying to get you to commit to anything. Believe me, the last thing on my mind right now is marriage or kids… But the day I do settle down, I sure wouldn’t stop my wife from having a career…” he shook his head. 

“Think about it Holly… there are a lot of people who successfully go through college even if they have a boyfriend…” Ellen pitched in. She almost felt sorry for Leo, and she thought her friend was racing a bit too far down paranoia lane…

“Yeah, but still. If I would want a boyfriend, I would want one who has at least the potential of a successful long term relationship. I mean, what’s the point of committing if it’s doomed to fail from the start? Holly asked.

“And that would not be possible with me, why?” Leo asked, feeling insulted.

“Let’s face it Leo… you are just not relationship material… For starters, you are a typical player… which means the probability of you being satisfied with one girl for any length of time is rather small…”

“Yeah, look who’s talking…” Leo said sulkily.

“I never claimed I was relationship material either....” Holly interrupted him. “But apart from being a player you are also totally irresponsible when it comes to your career, like the way you handle money... and your education…” she said matter of factly.

“What??” Leo exclaimed, starting to get a bit pissed at the way she was judging him. Cal actually choked on his beer and had to fight back a hysterical laughter, and Ellen and Viola just made big eyes as Holly kept talking.

“Yeah, I mean, you live like there was no tomorrow for at least three weeks every month, buying expensive take out and designer clothes… and then you never have any money left the last week of the month. Completely irresponsible. Imagine we would start a life together - is that the way you want to live? I can see myself saving up for the downpayment of our house, and you using that money to go party with your friends. Not an unlikely scenario, right? And you go to business school… do you even know how few people it is who actually succeed in business? It takes hard work and good grades to even get a foot inside one of the more promising companies, and you just don’t seem to lift a finger to even study. You think college is all about fun and parties, and it is too. I mean, I like to party… but I also study hard and I never go out if I don’t have any money left… College is where we lay the foundation of the rest of our lives, and my family has had to work hard for me to afford to go. I plan to make the most out of it…” 

“Are you done…?” Leo hissed, furious at her insults.

“Yeah... I think I made my point.”

“I can’t believe you Holly. You never seemed to mind having fun with me before… and I never would have taken you for a girl who would go out with someone based on how much money they have” he said sourly.

“No, that’s not what I said… I like having fun with you, I’m not complaining. I just said I want more than fun if I am going to go into a serious relationship… And I don’t complain about your lack of money either, you totally misunderstood me. It’s about what you choose to do with your life. I think it’s irresponsible to live beyond your means, that’s all. It’s possible to get by on a little money or a lot, but it is always possible to outlive your income if you don’t plan ahead and make some sacrifices, which you never seem willing to do… Sometimes you act like you are a spoiled brat even if you’re not. I just don’t get you…” she said and shook her head.

“So, if I were rich you’d have me…?” he said suspiciously.

“Oh my God… are your really this dense? Can somebody please translate? I think I’ll have to run my head through the wall soon…” Holly rolled her eyes in exasperation.

“Well, since I am both irresponsible and stupid, why do you even bother talking to me Holly? You’re free to go you know…” Leo snapped and stood up to go into the kitchen and get something else to drink.

Holly got up and left, slamming the door shut behind her.

*

“That went well… So much for Holly and Leo not messing up and getting awkward…” Viola huffed and crossed her arms at the same time as Leo came back, still furious.

“Yeah, and that’s my fault right? She’s just the worst hypocrite I’ve ever…” he started muttering.

“I think she has a point though…” Ellen said, earning her a deadly stare from her cousin.

“How the hell can you even say that Ellen? You heard her… she didn’t mind partying with me before, and she didn’t mind when I took her out and bought her dinner. But now I am irresponsible because I do so all of a sudden?”

“I know it seems harsh, but try to look at it objectively. Before, you just had casual sex, right? No promises, no strings? Ergo, it didn’t matter to her if you were either a total player or an irresponsible dick. She enjoyed herself and never claimed to do anything else, right? But you have to confess it’s different to consider a serious relationship with someone… Would she have been your first choice for a girlfriend if you look at it from a practical point of view, and you take away the fact that you happened to fall in love with her from the equation?”

“I’m not...”

“Yeah, whatever… just humor me, ok?”

“Ok, I guess not…” 

“So, I think maybe she rushes ahead and thinks too much into the idea of a relationship, but if you consider what happened to her sister, can you blame her?”

“But why would she have to assume the same thing would happen to us…? That’s a bit unfair, don’t you think?”

“I don’t think she assumes it Leo. I think she fears it. It’s probably her worst nightmare, and just the slightest possibility of that happening freaks her out. Try to look at it from her point of view. Her family obviously never had money, right? And she has probably been stressed out about it her whole life… My guess would be that her father is that type she described - you know, the one who lives from one paycheck to the next without planning ahead too much..”

“Yep, that’s the type... I know one of her life goals is never having to live like that when she grows up. Her mom actually hid the money for college funds for her and her sister, and she still had to apply for financial aid…” Viola, who knew Holly a bit better, agreed. 

“But I still don’t see what that has to do with me…?” Leo said sulkily.

“Oh Leo... You’re just so dense… Think about it. From what she knows about you and the way you act, that’s you. You’re her worst nightmare… The kind of guy she’s sworn to herself never ever to end up with.” Ellen said. 

“Do  _ you _ think I’m completely irresponsible?” he raised his eyebrows. 

“No, but that’s just because I know who you are. Holly doesn’t know that…” Ellen sighed.

Leo shot her a warning glance and looked quickly at Alex, who still sat watching them. But Ellen felt she had had it with the charade. They were hiding enough stuff from him already, and he was not stupid after all, so he had probably already seen through the act.

“Oh, relax Leo, Alex won’t be the one who sells you out to the tabloids…” 

“So are you saying I should tell Holly about...eh my financial status?” Leo asked.

“No, I actually don’t think it would be such a great idea right now… If you want to have her back, you’re going to have to show her that you are a responsible person. I don’t think she cares about the money, it’s about your behavior. And to be honest, I think it wouldn’t hurt for you to start living like you were supposed to…” Ellen said smugly.

“Oh, so now you  _ are  _ saying I’m irresponsible…” he huffed.

“Not completely…” she sniggered “but to be honest, do you really think this lifestyle is what your mom meant when she said you should learn to live like a normal college student…?” 

Both Cal and Viola stifled down laughs, but neither dared to say anything… They reckoned it would only be seconds before Leo exploded.

“What damn lifestyle…? I’m not living above my limits… so maybe I’m sometimes a bit short on cash the last couple of days, but let’s face it… the allowance she gave me isn’t exactly generous…” he looked around at the others who were trying really hard not to laugh.

“What?” he said, looking at his friends for support, but they just shook their heads.

“The pittance you get from your mom each month is actually about twice as much as what Cal and I have to live off…put together... Leo” Ellen said with a smirk.

“Yeah, and think about it… If you couldn’t go to your parents if necessary, what would you do if you suddenly had an emergency? If your car broke down or if you had to go to the dentist? How much savings do you have?” Cal pitched in and Leo opened his mouth to speak, but Cal put up his hand. “...that you can actually access at the moment without having to ask your dad…”

“And normal college kids don’t get to take the family private jet when they want to get out of town for a weekend. Or buy 200 dollar shirts…” Viola sniggered. 

“Yeah, I don’t see you guys complaining that you can live at my place for free…” Leo spat.

“Relax mate… We’re just trying to make a point that you  _ are _ actually a spoiled brat… but you know we still like you anyway…” Cal laughed and held up a protective hand “And I don’t think that Holly’s problem is that you are being generous towards your poor relatives anyway…” Cal said and patted him on the back. 

“Hmpf…” Leo scoffed a bit, but he couldn’t really deny the evidence laid before him either. “Ok, so perhaps you’ve got a point. And I guess it wouldn’t hurt to put a bit more effort into my education. I’m not even sure I  _ want  _ to go into the family business you know... And I guess I have been acting as if I don’t really have a choice.” he said thoughtfully and opened another bottle of beer while he pondered his situation.

“But I still think Holly is overreacting… I mean, it’s not like I proposed to her, right? We’re talking about the possibility of us dating… Even if I was the irresponsible jerk she thinks I am, we’re at college for heaven’s sake. What are the odds that we actually do end up together even if we go steady for a while now? Does she really expect a financial statement and an application with a full disclosure about what I plan to do with my life just to agree to go out with me?” he said. 

“I can actually understand where she’s coming from there…” Alex suddenly said. He had been sitting quietly for most of the discussion about Leo’s situation. He didn’t really understand it all, but obviously the guy had more money than he wanted people to know, and for some reason his parents had temporarily cut him off. He really didn’t care about that anyway, but it was adding an interesting twist to the mystery of Leo. Was this why he didn’t want to do something with his computer skills? Was he forced into business school by his family? But right now, he was more interested in actually helping Leo understand Holly. Because he sure did…

“How?” Leo asked, and the others also watched him with interested expressions. Alex especially noticed Ellen’s look, but at the moment, he couldn’t face meeting her eyes. 

“If I could guess, I would say she’s probably falling in love with you, and it freaks her out because to her, it means only two possible scenarios. Either you break up with her some day, and she gets her heart broken. Or she ends up with you which she fears will limit her freedom to decide her own future life since she obviously falsely assumes you wouldn’t be able to afford a nanny if you got kids, or whatever, right?”

“So she would rather be alone than risk getting hurt by dating a guy she obviously likes?” Ellen asked.

“Yeah…probably” Alex shrugged.

“Is that why you seem so reluctant to have a girlfriend yourself?” Leo gave him a piercing look.

“Something like that….” Alex said and started fidgeting with his phone, looking down to avoid Ellen’s gaze. But when he looked up he saw Leo’s raised eyebrows, still waiting for an explanation.

“You know... I don’t want to give up my dreams or my hobbies for a relationship. Like, right now, I spend most of my nights programming, or playing online, and I don’t necessarily want to stop doing that… And when we get out of the Uni, I don’t think I want a regular nine to five with two kids, a dog and a house, you know? I want to go into either research or using my computer skills for some good cause. I want to do something with my life; make a difference… I can’t have a girlfriend who keeps bugging me about coming home at night.”

“Wow, you sure plan ahead too… ” Cal said, raising his eyebrows.

“Yeah, but if you are honest… who would go out with someone if you really knew it was doomed to fail? I mean, even if you don’t normally plan your future together on the first date there’s always a possibility. I feel like I would deceive any girl I would go out with, because they might hope for something I could never give them. It wouldn’t be fair to them, right?” 

“Maybe you give your potential girlfriend too little credit. How can you be so sure you couldn’t find someone who would accept that lifestyle?” Viola pitched in. She knew, just like everyone else in the room did, that they had now stopped talking about Leo and Holly, and for some reason, nobody dared chance a glance at Ellen where she sat, quietly drinking her beer and staring into the wall. 

“Look, I know what it sounds like…” Alex started to explain. “But take my dad. He was actually a promising scientist back in the day. Did you know that?” The others shook their heads and Alex continued. “Yeah, he has a PhD in experimental physics and he had an opportunity to work on the particle accelerator they built at CERN. But he had just met my mom, and she didn’t want to move to Europe… So he stayed here, but he could never get a good research position so he helped her build her dream instead. And now my mom’s gone and he’s stuck selling doughnuts…”

“He’s actually making a good living running a successful business… I don’t think it’s fair reducing what he does to selling doughnuts…” Viola protested.

“Yeah, but still… He could have changed the world… Money is just money after all.”

“And you think if you got involved with someone, she would potentially stop you from following your dreams?” Viola asked.

“Not necessarily… but I guess I’m afraid that if I allowed myself to actually fall for someone, it might change me. Change what I chose to do with my life. And I might end up regretting it later…” he said, looking a bit ashamed since he knew it might sound a bit selfish. 

“So you just prefer being alone…?” Ellen asked, almost forcing him to look at her. She felt really frustrated and couldn’t keep quiet anymore. It was a bit awkward, since she knew that everybody knew they were talking about her and Alex now, and she would have preferred having this conversation between the two of them. 

“I’m not alone… I’ve got friends. And I do… you know… causal things sometimes. And I don’t know… someday it might change. Like if I know what I want to do and I find someone who accepts it. But I think there are more important things to life than to find the perfect partner, so it will just have to wait...” Alex said and shrugged, but Ellen could see that he actually looked a bit gloomy and he definitely avoided meeting her eyes. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, so I just have to add again that I totally changed the name (and a bit the personality) of Will's new love interest after having realized I accidentally wrote in a gay character whose name was Will in this story way back then, long before I had ever heard of Percy Jackson or Solangelo! This isn't a cross over, but this little side romance is a definite tribute to my newest, and perhaps all time favorite OTP (at least direct below Clois on that list) of Will Solace and Nico di Angelo in the Percy Jackson /Trials of Apollo series. And for those of you who haven't read that series, go do so (even if this pairing doesn't play a large role in the actual books, they are still very read worthy and the fandom is a gold mine for this epic love story between light and dark!!) If nothing else, Riordan's books are worth reading for all the amazing characters of different heritage, nationalities and sexualities that he has written in, without it even being the main focus of the series. They just exist, as if it was the most normal thing in the world in young adult literature to come across bad ass gay characters, strong women, cool people of color and even gender fluidity (in the spin off Magnus Chase) and I just love him for it! Go buy the books now if you're not convinced already!!


	18. Another Christmas party

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Sebastian makes a re-appearance, Nico goes to a party and the mistletoe gets busy. Like, really busy...

Ellen plopped down on a stool at the counter of the coffeeshop, told Alex to whip her up something nice with a lot of seasonal flavors and started chatting with him as if nothing awkward had ever happened between them four days ago. 

She hadn’t seen him since she went to Smallville to practice her heat vision with her father, and she hadn’t even dared to text him at first. But now she had decided it was better if she tried to show she was still willing to hang out with him and be friends instead of letting things get weird; and she dragged Viola and Will along to the coffeeshop. She was pretty sure Alex had some kind of feelings for her; he was obviously just terrified of commitment. Perhaps he would come around in time..? 

Ellen and Viola were discussing the upcoming break animatedly while Will was busy ogling the hot barista and seemed completely unable to keep his focus long enough to get a conversation flowing. But he pitched in the occasional polite not and sound of general agreement, so that was okay. Viola was looking forward to her brother coming over again for the holidays and Ellen was excited about all the parties. They were planning for both a Christmas party of their own in the apartment and a New Years party. The only thing she was unhappy about was the situation between Holly and Leo. They still hadn’t talked about what had happened, and Holly didn’t want to come to their little gatherings anymore. 

“Well, can you really blame her?” Alex asked as he handed the girls their drinks. He had been nervous at first when they had walked into the café, but felt very relieved now when Ellen didn’t seem to treat him any differently at all. Perhaps he had misread the situation after all, and the way she had seemed to flirt with him had only been innocent? He had feared she wanted something more from him, and that she would be resentful after his little manifestation about why he didn’t date. But she seemed just as relaxed and happy as always. A small part of him felt a bit disappointed, but he squeezed it down immediately. Friends - that’s what he wanted, right?

“Eh, yes. I can, actually. I think I even got it in writing that she wouldn’t end up trying to avoid him if she slept with him…” Viola retorted quickly.

“Yeah, but that was obviously before she fell in love with him…” Ellen sighed and took a sip of her latte. “Oh, this is really good Alex… you rock at the barista thing…” 

“Well, I know you by now, add enough sugar and you’ll be happy…” he said, lips twitching.  “And anyway, I have Nico here to thank for any improvements in my coffee making skills, really.” He nodded pointedly in the direction of his newest employee, who actually rewarded him with a half smile and held a steaming mug of latte up as a greeting. 

He couldn’t help noticing the little whimpering sound that came from Will when Nico turned to him, still smiling, and set the mug in front of him on the counter. The milk foam had a little heart shaped coffee mark in it, and Will’s eyes widened slightly at this realization, and a faint blush stained his freckled cheeks. Alex wondered if it had been deliberate, or if Nico was actually flirting? It wasn’t hard to notice the way Will was staring, and the way he had been hanging around lately, chatting an awful lot with Nico... It was kind of cute, really. But he had no idea if Nico was serious or if he was only toying with the blond. 

He had gotten to know his new emo-barista friend a bit over the last couple of weeks, but he was a hard man to read, and he seldom talked about his private life. Alex didn’t even know which way he swung. He wasn’t exactly great at recognizing stuff like that, and asking Nico was probably a good way to lose a finger. 

He thought back to the day when Nico, who had been a regular at the coffee shop the whole semester, suddenly came up to him at the counter and announced that he was interested in the opening for a new barista.

_ “Look” Nico had said “You’re a smart man, so I’m not going to waste your time. I’m not a particularly cheerful guy, ok? Nice isn’t my super power, so to speak. But I am Italian, and I make a mean espresso. And let’s face it, you need help. This place is really cozy, but the quality of the coffee is seriously lacking…” _

Alex ripped himself out of his thoughts, smiling at the memory, and tried to remember what the girls had been talking about. “So what are you going to do about Holly?” he asked Viola.

“I don’t know… you’re smart, why don’t you help me come up with something?”

“Yeah, I’m not that kind of smart…” Alex muttered, instantly getting the feeling he didn’t want to meet Ellen’s eyes again. Even if things were relaxed between them, he didn’t need her to be reminded about what an idiot he obviously was when it came to relationships.

“We’ll just force her to come and they’ll have to work out their issues…” Ellen suggested.

“Yeah, and who is going to do that…? Godzilla?” Viola sighed.

“We’ll think of some kind of leverage…” Ellen said.

“Are his parents coming to the Christmas party? I mean, that would kinda blow his cover, right?” Viola asked, looking around, but Nico had gone back to the kitchen to get something and nobody else was near them.

“Nope, I don’t think so, it’s a bit unfortunate, but then we couldn’t invite any of our outsider friends if they still want him to be Leo Sullivan…” she sighed.

“Ok, I’m really trying not to be nosy here, but you’re kind of making it hard even for me…” Alex laughed at them.

“Oh, sorry. I thought you’d figured it out by now… Well, his last name is actually Queen… Or, it’s Sullivan-Queen to be exact.” Ellen said and enjoyed the effect of Alex’s chin dropping to the ground. 

“As in related to Oliver Queen..?”

“Yeah, as in his son to be exact…” Ellen smiled. 

“Well, when you started talking about private jets, I wasn’t sure if you were being serious, but I guess you were then… It actually explains one or two things about him...” 

“Yeah, to his defense, I think he could have turned out much worse…” Ellen laughed “but aunt Chloe is really cool, and she came from perfectly normal circumstances so she’s made sure the kids aren’t totally hopeless… But Leo had one or two incidents that landed him in the tabloids back in Star City, and both Ollie and Chloe decided it was time he learned his lesson so they sent him here to study, incognito. The thing is that I actually don’t think he minds much at all, except for the part where he still hasn’t really learned the value of money. He’s been happy to notice that he can still get laid even without his credit card to speak for him, for example... “ Ellen smirked. 

*

The following days Alex actually spent a lot of time with Ellen, since he had somehow managed to promise her to help out a bit with the party in a weak moment. He didn’t mind much though, he was actually happy to spend time with her in a way that was relaxed and manifested their status as friends even further. He was told he needed something red for the party, since that was the only dress code, and since it wasn’t normally his favorite color, Ellen forced him to go shopping with her. He had tried to claim that he had a Christmas t-shirt. One that said HO 3  but Ellen refused to accept it as it was black. In the end, he found a red one with “I’ll be 127.0.0.1 for Christmas” written on it that obviously amused him, but Ellen just shook her head in exasperation. She did let him go for one with “MERRY XMAS” written in the periodic table of the elements style instead. That, at least, even normal people would understand. Ellen amused herself with trying on different ugly Christmas sweaters, which was her favorite thing to wear at parties like that. Just to try to get some reaction out of Alex, she also tried on a sexy elf dress she found, and was pleased to notice that he gulped a bit when she stepped out of the changing room. 

“What do you think about this?” she asked innocently, hoping he wouldn’t recommend it since she had no intention of buying it at all.

“Eehh… well, it’s a bit short perhaps…? I think you should go with the reindeer sweater, that was cute…” he said, trying to sound casual, but on the inside, there was a small war going on between his brain and his hormones. Ellen had the most amazing body he had ever seen; he had kind of suspected it before, but she usually didn’t dress to accentuate it. As a matter of fact, he wasn’t sure he had ever seen her in anything but jeans and shirts or sweaters before, and she still looked hot. But if she went out on the streets dressed like that, she would cause accidents. And to make matters worse, she had put on a really flirty, sexy, mischievous smile, like if she knew exactly what she was doing, when she had asked his opinion about the dress. Curse that woman, why did she have to make things so difficult?

*

The night before the Christmas party, Viola woke up in Cal’s bed at 2 am in the morning with an eerie feeling. She got up and looked through a gap in the curtains. The snow was drifting past the window and she could hear the wind howling outside. It was like a thick, white wall outside. She couldn’t even see the houses across the street. She started to feel a bit worried about Sebastian’s flight. They were supposed to pick him up from the airport this very morning. How on earth are they going to land in this weather, she wondered. She checked the airport status on her phone, and no new planes were to take off. It seemed Sebastian’s flight was already halfway across the Atlantic though, and since the weather was just as bad everywhere else, they were still scheduled to land in Metropolis at 6 am. Viola twisted and turned in the bed, unable to go back to sleep. At long last, she started to nudge Cal cautiously, hoping she could prod him awake. 

“Hey, what’s up? Why aren’t you asleep…?” he asked after a quick glance at the clock. 

“I can’t sleep… there’s a terrible storm outside, and I’m worried about Sebastian…”

“Don’t be… I’m sure it’s nothing they can’t handle… come here…” he said and pulled her into his embrace.

“I know, it’s just a feeling…” she said, but accepted his invitation and gave him a tender kiss. There was nothing like making love to your adorable boyfriend when it came to remedies against insomnia and other worries, after all… 

When Viola went to the bathroom afterwards, Cal picked up his phone and called his dad, just in case.

“Hey, sorry to wake you dad… I just wanted to check… There’s a blizzard outside, and Vi’s brother is flying in this morning. Could you just keep an extra ear out or something?”

“Don’t worry, I’m already on my way out. The central just called, there’s complete chaos on all highways and airports in the area, so I will probably be working at it all morning and most of the day. I just hope I will make it to you Christmas thing…”

“Yeah, that’s not so important...if you can keep Sebastian alive, you’ve saved the party anyway…” he joked, but he texted him the flight number and ETA anyway, just in case. Not that he wanted his dad to prioritize Sebastian’s life over anyone else’s, but it wasn’t like he would be the only one on that plane. 

It had been more of a joke from Cal’s side, and a just-in-case thing, but it turned out Viola’s bad feeling wasn’t all that off. Sebastian’s plane was actually one of several that got into serious trouble in the unexpected blizzard, and if it hadn’t been for Superman, many lives would have been at stake that day. Luckily, nobody died in the storm neither in the air nor on the highways since all of the super powered members of the League were working really hard all day long helping plans to land, pulling cars out of ditches, clearing roads and preventing accidents. As Viola spent her day showing her brother around a snowy Metropolis, once he had arrived safely, Cal and Ellen snuck off too to help out. Normally, they didn’t do much work for the Justice League yet. They were considered too young and they hadn’t outed themselves or gotten any kind of disguise. But sometimes they would pitch in, especially during natural disasters like this. They argued that any citizen would help out if they could, superpowers or not, and nobody could really argue with that. Due to the weather, nobody could see them racing by anyway, and if someone had their car pulled out of a heap of snow by a seemingly invisible person, they would just assume it was Superman or someone else on the team who was in a rush. Luckily, the storm died down around noon, and they had plenty of time for the preparations for the Christmas party as well. 

*

Viola had taken her brother to the Carla’s where she hoped Alex would hang out in order to make sure he knew at least one more person before the party that evening. They sat down at the counter and ordered coffee when she realized Alex was actually behind it. Viola introduced them first but had to ask why he was working today.

“Oh, they were short handed today. This terrible blizzard stopped two in the staff from getting to work at all… It’s just Nico and me at the moment.”

Nico hummed behind the counter, and when he saw Viola his eyes instantly started to dart around the room, as if he was looking for someone. Alex smirked to himself. Perhaps Nico was indeed a bit interested?

“Tell me about it… If it hadn’t been for Superman, I don’t think I would have made it here alive…” Sebastian continued, unaware of Nico’s reaction, and took a swig of coffee. 

“Funny how our whole family have been rescued by Superman this year…” Viola said.

“You too?” Alex asked curiously.

“Yeah, sort of anyway. Dad was kidnapped this spring and when he wouldn’t tell them what they wanted they came after me. Actually, Cal and I sort of got out of it by pure luck I guess, but Superman came and took care of the kidnappers and found dad…” she started, but told him the whole story. Sebastian also listened carefully, he hadn’t heard all the details before either.

“That’s some story…” Alex said, impressed “I was actually kind of saved by Superman too, or I would have been if he had come thirty seconds earlier… We had a robber here in Metropolis who took hostages to get caféowners to give him money, and he tried to take Ellen hostage right in front of my eyes. It was a real fright…”

“Ellen… that’s Callum’s sister, right? So what happened?” Sebastian smiled knowingly. 

“Well, it turned out Ellen has a black belt in Karate and she knocked him out cold only seconds before Superman showed up… He told her she should have been more careful, but she just scoffed at him…” Alex laughed “it was evidently not the first time he had gotten her out of trouble by the way, because he knew her name…”

Viola got instantly suspicious when she saw the look on her brother’s face, but she decided it was a bad time to ask. 

Sebastian, on the other hand, had just had his theory more or less confirmed. He had been about seventy five percent sure the day he not only registered Cal’s weird aura, but also saw him hover an inch above the ground during meditation. Today he had seen Superman live, the exact same strange aura around him, and he had been ninety five percent certain. This little story only made him more convinced. He really hoped Cal and Ellen’s parents would show up tonight, just to confirm it… Not that it was any of his business, but it was interesting to confirm they were actually related, or he had to find some other explanation for the similarity. The only thing that made him doubt was that it was so darn obvious to him that he just couldn’t understand how Viola and their other friends didn’t see it. But then again, it sometimes seemed to Sebastian as if people were completely blind.

*

When Viola and Sebastian left the café, Alex turned to Nico. He decided to risk it and pry a bit.

“So, what are your plans for the holidays? You have the next week off as well, right?” he started. That was a perfectly innocent question, right?

Nico looked a bit surprised, but not exactly offended, so that was a relief. He shrugged and kept cleaning the espresso machine.

“If I can get a flight out of here, I’m going to my sister’s place, in the San Francisco area… But it doesn’t look like I’m going any time soon…” he sighed, looking out the window. “You?”

“Oh… well. The usual. Hang out with dad mostly I guess. I’m going to a gaming convention too over New Years, and tonight I’m going to a party at my friends’ place.” he said, carefully eyeing Nico for a reaction.

“The auburn one? Who just left?” Nico asked casually, but Alex noticed that he had been wiping the same spot for a really long time, so he was obviously a bit more interested in Alex’s friends than he wanted to let on.

“No. Her boyfriend’s place, actually. Ellen, Will and Leo live there too…” he said, but Nico didn’t really react. “You’ve met Ellen and Will I think, they have been here quite a lot over the last few days?” Alex tried cautiously, and now he got a reaction. 

Nico’s eyes flicked up with interest. “Oh, the dark one who’s flirting with you? And the hot blond dude?” he asked.

“I don’t know if she is flirting exactly…” Alex said, cheeks heating up “I think flirting is more like what said hot blond dude does with you, actually” he smirked at Nico “but I’m no expert…”

A sharp noise interrupted the tension when Nico dropped the cap to the espresso machine with a clang.

“Shit. Sorry…” he said, grinning sheepishly. “Hrm... so you were saying… you think he’s actually interested, huh?” 

“Well, he has been around an awfully lot since you started working, and he can’t stop staring… so… it’s an educated guess?” 

“But he’s… I mean, at least he bats for the right team, yeah?” 

“Well, I don’t know much about your preferences, but he’s gay if that’s what you’re asking…”

“Yeah, that. Um... Good to know…” Nico said with his signature half smile, but without being able to hide the faint blush creeping up his neck.

“You know… if you’re free tonight, I could probably get you an invite to a party?” 

  
  


*

Alex closed up the café and made his way through the snowy streets of Metropolis just in time to make it to the party. As the apartment was so close to the Campus, he hadn’t bothered taking a car. He wasn’t much of a drinker, normally, but tonight he might not mind a couple of beers or an eggnog to get through the evening. And anyway, he enjoyed walking. Right now, he was starting to enjoy Christmas as well. Normally, he wasn’t much for celebrating irrational things, and growing up as an only child of a single parent, Christmas had never been a priority in their household. But now, he started to look around as he passed the shop windows full of decorations, the Christmas Trees on every street corner and the fairy lights that were all over the city, and he felt a strange urge to start singing “fa la la la la, la la la la” or something. Perhaps it was a bit of Ellen’s enthusiasm that was rubbing off on him. Somehow, he found it difficult to spend too much time with her on any of her projects without ending up liking them. 

He felt strangely nervous as he got closer to the apartment. Or, if he was honest with himself, it wasn’t strange at all; but at the moment, he preferred not to be. He didn’t want to think about Ellen, all dressed up and pretty. Nor did he want to think about meeting her parents and making a good impression on them, just in case his and Ellen’s relationship ever did develop beyond friendship. He didn’t want to think about how happy she had seemed as they had spent time together with the preparations, or about the wild expectations she might have on this evening. He had wanted so much to help her make it perfect. He wanted her to be happy, he wanted to make her feel special and amazing. And this was why he was a bit nervous, perhaps. Because he didn’t know if he could give her all that she wanted. He wasn’t even exactly sure what it was. Since the talk after the concert, she had not mentioned anything about their relationship, future or present, or made any obvious attempts to flirt with him, except for the incident with the elf dress. But he preferred not to think about that either. It had forced itself into too many of his fantasies already. 

Well, to sum up, she had treated him like any good friend most of the time anyway. But somehow, no matter how hard they both tried to avoid flirting, there seemed to be some kind of tension growing between them whenever they were alone. It was like the damn stars were aligning left and right to make them cave in to their destiny. No matter how they turned when hanging decorations, they always seemed to end up face to face, a little too close. And when they went shopping, they always happened to grab for the same item, making their hands touch. If they were hanging out with the others, they were sure to end up next to each other, preferably squeezed together on a couch somewhere, unable to avoid parts of their bodies touching. It was slowly, but surely, driving him insane. Alex had never believed in some kind of deity or higher power or any of that nonsense, but if it existed, it sure was out to get him right now. He would bet almost anything that there would be some offending branch of mistletoe at that party, and every time Alex went past it, Ellen would be standing right under it.

When Ellen opened the door, Alex almost couldn’t stop his mouth from gaping again. He didn’t even know what to react to first. Ellen, just as he had suspected, looked amazing. She did wear the cute reindeer sweater she had bought when they went shopping, but she had combined it with a black and red plaid skirt and knitted stockings, and her hair was twisted into two buns on the top of her head that reminded him a bit of antlers. The whole effect made her look a bit like some odd combination between sexy school girl and crazy cute manga character and he couldn’t help smiling at her. The apartment also looked insane. Sure, he had helped out a bit so he knew there were going to be ample amounts of decorations. But this was ridiculous. While he was working today, they must have tripled the efforts. And how they even got the enormous Christmas tree in to the apartment was a total mystery to him.There was no chance in hell it had fitted in the elevator and it seemed impossible that anyone but Superman himself could have carried that thing up all the stairs. If it even fitted through the door…

“Wow, you look…This place looks…ehrm…” he shook his head a bit and composed himself. “At least now we know where the Grinch hid Christmas…” he smiled at her and gave her a gift bag he had brought. “This was supposed to add to the decorations, but I’m starting to think it wasn’t necessary? Well, Merry Christmas anyway…” he smiled a bit nervously. 

Ellen opened the bag. It contained a Christmas wreath made out of Hama beads with all the classic symbols and characters from the Nintendo 8-bit games. It also blinked in various colors.

“Oh my goodness, that’s so cute! Where on earth did you find it?” she smiled happily at Alex.

“Er...well, I made it actually…” he said a bit embarrassed.

“You made that for me?” she said incredulously.

“Yeah, well… I made it for the party… but I might have had mostly your taste in mind.” he grinned sheepishly “I made these for you though, I thought you might have run out after that robber incident…” he said and gave her a small box. It contained a pair of Hama bead earrings with the Super Mario extra life mushroom symbol.

“Wow, I don’t know what to say… thanks. I love them! I knew you had other hidden talents…” she said and gave him a friendly hug. Or at least a hug that was intended to be friendly, but that seemed to last just a little bit too long since none of them actually wanted to let go. Ellen was really flattered that Alex had made the gifts himself. Not only were they totally cute and reminded her about all their gaming nights together, but that he had actually taken the time out of his always so full schedule to sit down and do that for her. If he had been her actual boyfriend, she would have thought it was the most romantic thing ever. Now, she didn’t know exactly what to think, but it made her all warm and fuzzy inside. He had also really made an effort to dress up a bit. Sure, he did have the nerd-shirt he had bought, but he actually wore a sports jacket over it and he had combed his hair back a bit. She didn’t know if it was for her, or to make a bit of an impression on her family, but it made her smile anyway. And sure enough, she didn’t even have the time to finish the thought about her family before her mom snuck up on them from behind Alex’s back, and Ellen quickly pulled away from the embrace.  _ God, I swear that woman can read minds… _ Ellen cursed internally.

“Hello, I’m guessing you must be Alex…” Lois grinned innocently but Ellen sent her a warning glare.

“Yeah, this is our friend Alex… Alex, this is my mother, Lois Lane…” she said, praying that her mother would behave. Of course, her dad hadn’t managed to shut up about the incident at the café and Lois had called like two minutes later to interrogate Ellen about the young man she had been caught embracing. Not much interested in the robber who tried to take her hostage, mind. And here she was again, busted with her arms around him...

“Nice to meet you Mrs Lane…” Alex said a bit shyly and shook her hand.

“Please call me Lois….” she started to say something else when Clark too showed up out of nowhere and introduced himself. He had met Alex before, of course, but not as Clark Kent. 

They talked for a couple of minutes, or at least Lois did, before Ellen insisted she needed to get her guest something to drink and dragged Alex away to save him from her questioning.

“Sorry about that… My mom can be a bit… intense…” she said apologetically. 

“S’okay… it wasn’t so bad. She kind of reminds me of someone else I know…” he smirked back a bit at Ellen, who punched him on the shoulder. 

“By the way, I thought you didn’t know Superman personally…?” he said in an amused tone as they walked past the enormous Christmas tree.

“Uhm… What?” Ellen coughed, voice sounding a bit alarmed, which surprised Alex. 

“I mean, who else flew that thing up here…?” he smiled at her, making his point.

Ellen sighed in relief and made up some lame joke about them all skipping the training this week and taking turns carrying it up the stairs. She should have known someone would realize the tree couldn’t fit into the elevator, and of course, that someone had to be Alex...

The party was a total success, of course. Parties tended to be that when Ellen was in charge of planning them. Everyone had a great time and enjoyed both food and drinks. Alex felt a bit of an extra flutter in his stomach that she had made him, or more like ordered for him, luckily, a wide selection of plant based treats. He was trying really hard not to hang around Ellen like glue, and he spent a lot of time talking to Cal as well, and to Viola’s brother whom he really liked . When Nico actually did show up, much to Alex’s surprise, and Will’s total and utter shock, he also spent some time introducing his colleague to most of the people he knew. It wasn’t that long before Will took over the responsibility for Nico though, which basically meant they were both lost to the world.

Even if he had enough other friends at the party, Alex found it hard not to glance over to where Ellen stood with her happy smile and extremely cute hairstyle. But he still almost managed to go through half of the evening without any faux pas, before he went to help Sebastian with some drinks and ended up standing in the doorway to the kitchen. And he had forgotten to look up, as people often tend to do…

“I’m sorry, but…” Ellen suddenly came up from behind and shot a meaning glance to the mistletoe that he had obviously missed. He felt his heart stop for a second.  _ Oh, please… have mercy… _ he thought and took a breath to brace himself. He knew there was no chance of getting away from this. At least, there were witnesses… Or wait, was that a good or a bad thing? His heart was racing when she smiled and leaned in to kiss him, and naturally, she was aiming right for his lips. There was nothing to do but to smile back and try to get it over with quickly, but when he met her azur blue eyes it was like time stopped for a bit. 

*

Ellen felt her knees weaken a bit when she saw Alex under the mistletoe. She had kind of hoped she could catch him there, but now she got nervous. What if he would pull away, or get embarrassed? But it was so perfect, the opportunity to kiss him and get away with it without risking anything. She just wanted so badly to know what his lips felt like, but how were you allowed to kiss a supposed friend under an upside down plant? On the cheek? On the lips? A small peck or a real kiss? Probably no tongue, that would give her intentions away immediately… She leaned in quickly, before he could think of a way to get out of it, and planted her lush lips on his in a soft, but tender kiss. It lasted just for a second. Not so long that it would be embarrassing, but long enough to make them both feel the effects of the electricity ripping through their bodies, and wish for more. 

It took like a second too long before any of them managed to compose themselves enough to speak.

“You’d better move away from there before someone else ambushes you…” Ellen said, trying to keep it light, but she felt her voice crack a bit and thought he probably could read the hidden threat  _ Or before I kiss you again _ between the lines.

“Yeah, I always knew that plant was dangerous… did you know it was what killed the god Balder in the norse mythology? All the other plants had sworn not to hurt him, but the mistletoe seemed so small and innocent, nobody bothered to ask it. And the evil half god Loki tricked one of the others to shoot Balder with an arrow made of mistletoe…” 

“Eh, no, I didn’t know that… Let’s hope this is a kinder specimen, and nobody gets killed tonight…” she smiled at him. Trust Alex to sit on some facts to take the edge of the awkwardness. But she was almost a bit disappointed. In her head, he would just have stayed there and challenged her to kiss him again. 

*

The mistletoe, it turned out, wasn’t quite done with its work for the evening. Only minutes after Alex and Ellen had left the kitchen again, it their mutual state of mixed feelings of disappointment and excitement, a certain tall, blonde, freckled and blue eyed young man stood under it, casually leaning against the door frame and hoping for the best. 

Will was watching, unable to hide the infatuated smile on his face, as Nico was bustling about with their coffee machine, trying to prove that he could get the thing to produce a decent mug of java. Will, naturally, knew perfectly well what hung above his head, and he suspected Nico had noticed too, if his flustered look when his eyes kept darting to the roof was anything to go buy. He hadn’t left the room though, which Will counted as a win.

He had been very surprised when Alex’s barista friend actually showed up to the party, bringing some expensive Italian coffee, what was apparently some kind of homemade dessert and a very nice bottle of Amarone as a contribution to the party. Alex had asked them, per text message, if it would be ok for him to bring Nico, which had rendered Will completely useless during most of the preparations due to his constant state of half-panic. His friends, naturally, had been merciless with their teasing and Will had feared they would embarrass him spectacularly should the Italian actually decide to show up. However, Will was positively surprised by the way even Leo actually seemed to behave. He hadn’t even flirted one bit with Nico, even if it was obvious the man was by far the most attractive person at the party (at least according to Will). Now, this might, naturally, be because he was pining after Holly, but Will also suspected his friends, Leo included, had realized his crush on the hot barista was actually a pretty serious thing.

Will couldn’t exactly claim that he knew the man well enough to really be in love, but damn. He had never felt like this before because of someone he had just met. The coffee shop had been like a black hole, sucking him in, whenever Nico was scheduled to work (Will may or may not have bribed Alex just a tiny bit to get a hint as to when that was…) and each time they met the attraction just grew. Nico was sassy, witty and intelligent, and Will already suspected that the man had a heart of gold buried under that layer of rudeness everybody else seemed to see. And he had the most beautiful eyes Will had ever seen. Godsdamnit, he was probably even hotter than Cal, and that was saying something. Or well, perhaps Cal was more classically handsome, but Nico had that bad boy look, those small flaws and that quirky smile full of secrets that made him so much more intriguing to study. And Will just couldn’t stop staring…

Suddenly, Will was pulled out of his daydream, and felt his cheeks heat up slightly at the knowledge that he had been caught ogling. Nico was standing way too close to him in the doorway, hiding his hand behind his back and with a knowing smirk playing on his lips.

“Close your eyes…” he said, in a huskier tone than usual, making Will’s heart skip a beat. He obeyed and waited for some long seconds. Was Nico going to kiss him? Or was he just going to fuck with him and leave him standing like this? No, Will could still feel the heat from Nico’s body and smell his musky, intoxicating scent, vaguely reminding Will of spices and tar and something that might be pomegranate and vanilla shampoo? Either way, it made Will almost lose his nerve and bolt out of there before he was caught with an embarrassing erection.

“Open your mouth…” Nico instructed after what felt like an eternity and Will wondered briefly if he was going to plunge his tongue right in?

Instead of a deep kiss though, a cold spoon suddenly rested against Will’s mouth and he felt the sting of disappointment, mixed with embarrassment of getting his hopes up before his lips closed around the creamy, spongy bite of something and he forgot all about kisses.

“Oh. My. God. That is divine… what is that?” Will almost moaned, eyes still closed, while the flavors of the desert spread in his mouth. It was creamy and rich, with just the right mix of subtle sweetness and light bitter taste of cacao, along with the sweet and sour creaminess of something Will didn’t exactly recognize and just a hint of some foreign alcohol. 

“It’s Tiramisu…. It means… pull me up?” Nico said, his voice raw and breathy. Will didn’t even think twice as his eyes met Nico’s dark gaze; he cupped Nico’s cheek and pulled him in to close the distance between them. 

“Wow, if I had known you would take it literally I would have made you Tiramisu a long time ago…” Nico smirked as they broke apart, but Will wasn’t fooled by his attempt at playing it cool. He could see the faint blush on Nico’s pale olive cheeks and feel his heart beating almost as fast as his own. 

“Well, I am standing under the mistletoe so you sort of owed me a kiss anyway…” Will said with a cheeky grin. 

*

Half an hour later, Cal was standing in the kitchen talking to his mom and dad when Sebastian came in with some empty bottles and glasses. He exchanged some words about Switzerland and the mountains with Lois, who had been in the area a couple of times visiting her sister when she lived there. They hadn’t been talking more than five minutes though, when Clark’s phone beeped and he took it out. 

“There’s a fire down at the museum, Lois, we should head down to the Planet at once…” he told his wife, and was instantly irritated that there naturally had to be people in the kitchen. Perhaps he could dive in to Cal’s bedroom and take off through the window? But it would be hard to hide from the neighbours across the street. The balcony was constructed to cover up anybody landing or taking off, exactly for emergencies like this, after all… He didn’t have time to finish his thought though, before Sebastian pointed out the obvious when Clark started striding towards the door.

“Isn’t it quicker to take off from the balcony?”

“I beg your pardon…?”

“I mean, if you fly from the balcony, you could get there quicker…” he just plainly said and went back to putting the dishes in the sink, but he realized everyone had frozen.

“What do you mean…” Clark started but was interrupted.

“Oh, sorry… I just recognized you from the plane this morning. Thanks for that, by the way…” he grinned, but still, nobody moved.

“Don’t worry, I’m not telling anyone. I’ve more or less had my suspicions since Cal floated during a meditation session last year anyway… I also don’t really see people the way others do, so that could be why the disguise doesn’t work on me. But we can talk about it some other time, if you were in a hurry?” he suggested.

Clark just opened his mouth and closed it a couple of times, but it seemed like a lost case to try to lie to this guy, so in the end he just shook his head and went out to the balcony and took off.

“Where did dad go?” Ellen had just entered the kitchen.

“Fire at the museum…” Cal said, face still a bit in a shock. Sure, he had known Sebastian was on to something about him, but that it was the actual truth hadn’t really crossed his mind. Had he really floated during meditation? That would explain things… if that was the case, he was impressed by the way Sebastian had been so cool about it. He would probably have freaked out completely if he had seen someone do that, even with his heritage.

“He had to report about it…?” Ellen said, giving Cal a very stern look and a meaning glance at Sebastian.

“Oh, no… Sebastian knows… apparently…” Cal said and plopped down on a chair. “I think I need a drink…” he opened a bottle of beer and handed his equally shocked sister one too “And I think  _ we _ need to talk…” he added, turning to Sebastian.

Cal and Ellen sat for a long while with Lois and Sebastian in the kitchen, discussing the current situation. When Clark came back he joined too, and it was decided that Sebastian meet with the Justice League during his visit to have a scan from the Martian Manhunter. They all agreed that the usual procedure of memory wiping anyone who had figured out the secret by mistake would probably neither work nor be necessary. And as Sebastian agreed to have his mind scanned and be registered as a known secret keeper of Superman’s identity, and they all agreed he was to be trusted, no harm was done. It turned out later the League was actually interested in his ability to read auras, or whatever it was. Chloe refused to believe in auras since there was no scientific proof of such, but she agreed he could somehow spot people with powers anyway, and that could be an asset. As Sebastian lived in Europe, he had no intention of joining the team permanently, but he had nothing against helping out on occasion, should it ever be needed.

  
  


*

  
  


All the relatives left quite early for the kids to party on their own. Only Sebastian remained longer; he and Nico had found each other over some old German punk band that had recorded an album with Christmas covers, and now they had taken control of the music and were singing loudly to a punk version of Auld Lang Syne in the living room, together with Will and Alex. Ellen desperately tried to change the music, but Alex had hacked his way into their streaming system and didn’t even cave in when she tickled him so much that he was crying with laughter. They were tumbling around on the couch, and Sebastian, Nico and Will quickly made themselves scarce.

It was like if the atmosphere in the room changed the instant Ellen and Alex were left alone. Their playful wrestling slowed down and Ellen felt her pulse quicken as she met Alex’s brown eyes. She was suddenly very aware of the fact that she was more or less lying on top of him on the couch. Evidently, he had noticed too, and he tried to sit up a bit, by supporting himself on one arm behind his back, but the only thing he accomplished with that was to bring his face closer to hers. Their eyes were still locked, and the air was loaded with tension between them. She heard his heart pound in his chest as her lips slowly found his.

The kiss started out soft and tentative, but grew deeper and more passionate after a while. Ellen didn’t know how long they were locked together like that, she had given up thinking and just allowed herself to indulge in the sweet feeling of his lips against hers and his warm tongue that gently sought access to her mouth. She felt the heat spread through her entire body, but it wasn’t just desire this time. It was definitely love. Like a swelling feeling of warmth and lightness that spread from her heart and out into her toes, fingers and all the way to the top of her head. He had wrapped his free arm around her waist, and she twisted her hands into his soft mess of hair and drank in his wonderful scent.  _ God, how can someone smell so good? _ Was the last thing that went through her mind before they heard a noise and quickly jumped apart. Viola was standing in the doorway with a big grin on her face, but she held up her hands and quickly retracted back into the kitchen. Alex was blushing heavily and he looked at her apologetically as he sat up and scooted a bit to the side on the couch as if he had only just realized how close they were. 

“I’m sorry… I...I didn’t mean for that to happen…” he said with a small frown, and a crack in his voice.

“Don’t be… I guess it was my fault. I kind of did, actually…” Ellen gave him a half smile.

“Sorry... it...it was a mistake. I shouldn’t have...”

“Are you sure? Come on Alex… go out with me?” she put her head to the side and gave him a pleading look. 

“I can’t... we...we are friends, Ellen. “ he stuttered.

“Is that all I am Alex? Your friend?”

“I think you know why it can’t be more.”

“No, I don’t. I think it’s stupid. I know you feel more than friendship for me. Don’t deny it…”

“It doesn’t matter what I feel, Ellen. I’m sorry…”

“I don’t expect you to promise me anything… Even if you want to go to Europe, or work all the time in science when you get out of the university or whatever. That’s a problem for later. Why can’t we be together now? We don’t have to get married you know. I’m talking about a date…”

“I don’t date…”

“You dated that Liz girl… “

“That was different…”

“Why? She was worth it and I’m not? Or am I not smart enough for you?” Ellen was starting to get annoyed now. She didn’t want to be a jealous bitch, but she just didn’t get him.

“Don’t be stupid Ellen. You know that’s not it…”

“So why is it different? Explain it to me, because I don’t understand…”

“It’s the opposite. I know it might sound selfish, but I only went out with Liz because I knew she was not the girl I would give up my dreams for… Don’t you see Ellen… I really like you. I think you are much more than smart enough. I think you are brilliant. You’re clever and bold, beautiful, funny, and you are a good person… If I allowed myself to fall for you there would be no way back.”

“Please Alex, can we talk about this? I have plans for my life too, you know. Some plans you know, and some that I haven’t even told you about but I can assure you that I don’t think my destiny is a nine to five job in some office either. Look at my parents, they always work and they hardly ever see each other. I’m not saying that’s ideal, but I know they would never trade their life together for anything. And I also know that one of the reasons they actually have the strength to go on like that; like work 24/7 and put their lives at stake for a story, is that they find comfort in one another. You don’t have to spend the rest of your life alone just because you have a demanding job, you know…” She looked him in the eyes, pleading for him to understand. To see. She could see on his face that he had made up his mind though, and she felt the tears burning in her eyes as he answered her.

“I know… and I do hope that I don’t have to do that. But right now I just have so much I want to do. I don’t have time for a relationship. If we fall in love, it will just complicate everything…I’m sorry.” 

“Ok… I can see it’s a lost cause Alex. I just hope you’ll be happy with your computers or whatever.” Ellen bent her head down to her knees and hid her face in her arms, tears streaming down her face.

“Hey, don’t do that…I’m just trying to be rational here. It’s better we stay friends. If we start anything it will end up with somebody’s heart being broken” Alex said softly, trying to comfort her with an arm wrapped around her back.

“Yeah, but what if you already broke mine? I don’t want to spend my life alone just because we’re too scared to risk anything...” she sobbed quietly.

“Ellen, you are an amazing person. You won’t be alone. You can have any guy you want…”

“No I obviously can’t Alex, because the one that I want happens to be you…” Ellen stood up and raised her voice turning from sad to frustrated, and a bit angry that he was so stubborn. But she decided to just put the cards on the table, and then she would leave him alone. “I’m not scared of falling in love with you, you know why? Because it’s too late for that. I already did… I’ve never met anyone who made me feel like this before, and I don’t know if I ever will again. For a smart person, you can be kind of stupid, you know?” She sighed, stood up and left the room, determined to preserve whatever dignity she still had left.

She passed Viola in the hallway as she made her way towards her room. She gave her a questioning look, and opened her mouth to say something, but Ellen shook her head. 

“Don’t ask, I’ll tell you later… But don’t say anything to the others, ok?” she pleaded as her friend pulled her into a tight hug, trying to wipe away the tears from her cheeks.

*

Alex was left sitting on the couch, feeling like somebody just hit him in the chest. He had not expected that. Nope. So, he had suspected that Ellen might be a bit attracted to him, even though he still had a very hard time believing it, no matter how many hints she threw his way. Girls like her just didn’t fall for guys like him. In Alex’s eyes, she was perfect. When his friend Tom had said that she was the hottest girl he had ever spoken to at the concert, Alex had been a bit pissed because it was such a superficial understatement. Ellen was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. The first time he had met her at the party in the apartment, he had been almost speechless, and when he had looked into her azur blue eyes, his heart had definitely skipped more than one beat. It had been like looking into the summer sky and the pacific ocean all at once. When she also turned out to be both clever and funny, and interested in playing video games with him, he had really been in trouble.

But Alex was a rational person with a scientific mind. Love is just a chemical reaction, after all, stemming from the pheromones the bodies emit to signal that their offspring may have a chance of being a successful genetic match. And he didn’t believe in true love or any of that nonsense - there was always other possible matches for his genes if he ever wanted to procreate. Ones that might be less of a threat than Ellen Lane-Kent. Because she was definitely a threat to him. According to his logic, she would probably leave him and break his heart sooner or later, because she would get tired of him. And if she didn’t, he would obviously be in danger of turning into a lovesick fool who forgot his friends, his hobbies and all of his ambitions and dreams because he’d rather spend time with her. And that was exactly the kind of person he didn’t want to be. He had bigger plans for his life than to tumble around the sheets with a pretty girl, no matter how mind blowingly amazing she was, how much she made him laugh, how wonderful she smelled and how soft her skin… No, he refused to think about that. 

Alex had never dreamt of romance. He didn’t want to spend his life alone, for sure. But he had always imagined that he would end up with someone more like him, in a more practical relationship. Like one day realizing that the partner he had worked next to for five years in his lab was both female and single; and thus asking her if she would consider finding out if they would be a good match. If she said no, he would have shrugged and kept on working, no harm done. He had never imagined falling madly in love with a beautiful, wild, crazy, impulsive and extremely sexy woman. And as wonderful as the feeling was, it was also threatening to turn his whole world upside down.

Thus, he had spent the last two months desperately fighting against his growing feelings for Ellen and deliberately pushing any romantic thoughts about her to the back of his mind. If he had been as smart as he gave himself credit for, he probably would have stayed away from her all together. But somehow, he didn’t seem capable of doing that either, and he told himself that they could just be friends. Ellen was cool, after all. She wasn’t girly and difficult, usually. She was always straightforward and didn’t mess around with any kind of emotional extortion. And she had not given him much reason to believe that she was interested in anything but friendship before the last couple of weeks or so either, or at least he hadn’t noticed, so he had thought it was safe to hang out with her. He had been wrong, it seemed.

Now, he had no idea what to do. He didn’t want to lose her, and part of his insides were dancing around in triumphant joy at her confession that she was actually in love with him. Because he didn’t really doubt her honesty. He just still found it hard to wrap his head around it. But his brain was protesting loudly.  _ Walk away, this is not good Alex. Walk away while you can… You’ll end up like your dad before you know it. Or she will get tired of you and fall for some jock with big biceps and you’ll be devastated. Just stop this now, and you might have a chance to save your friendship. And your heart. One more step and you’re screwed, you know.  _ In the end, he decided to sneak out of the party and go home. He didn’t think he could face the others right now, and he didn’t think Ellen wanted to talk to him anymore tonight.

When he got home, he tried to distract himself by working on his latest program, but he had a hard time not thinking about Ellen. Briefly, he considered just giving up and asking her out. So, he might risk his dreams, but it could be worth it, right? But his brain stepped in again and gave him a brutal mental slap, so he decided to try to find a way to save their friendship instead. He suspected that Ellen might be a bit humiliated by the fact that she had gotten rejected. He also realized that he had more or less told her he didn’t love her...yet. And that was a bit unfair since it wasn’t exactly true; and after all, she had been honest with him. Perhaps she could forgive him if he poured his heart out too? But he was a bit too shy to tell her that to her face. Or perhaps a bit of a coward… A letter seemed lame too, though. In the end, he hacked her computer and wrote a little program for her instead. 

*

Ellen was both mad at Alex and not just a little humiliated. Deep down, she actually wondered if he wasn’t in love with her after all. That last kiss had been absolutely mind blowing, and he hadn’t made any effort to pull away before they were interrupted either. She had felt his heart pound just as hard as hers, not just from the kiss but also when their eyes had met across the room at the party earlier, and when they had met under the mistletoe. But either he didn’t even realize it himself, or he was just too scared of the consequences to admit it. She felt a bit like a hypocrite, but she could actually understand Holly’s fear of dating Leo for more or less the same reasons as Alex had for not dating her. But it was much harder to accept it when she was on the receiving end of it. And she also knew Alex was wrong about her, just as Holly was wrong about Leo. And perhaps even more so… Even if Leo had money, he was a bit irresponsible and he was undeniably a player type, so Holly was right about that. But Alex was all wrong about her ever allowing herself to stand between him and his career. In fact, she was probably going to be the one with the most hysterical life… 

God, how she wished she could tell him about herself. It was the first time she had wanted to do that. With other guys, she had been scared that they would find out. But she didn’t think Alex would mind that she had powers. He was exactly the type Viola had recommended that she date - the one that didn’t build his ego around his biceps - and now she could really see what Viola had meant. He never tried to play macho with her. The other day, they had been going to the store together to prepare for the party, and after shopping he just handed half of the bags to her. And not even the lightest ones like normal guys always did. When she had smiled at him, amused, he had just looked confused and said “What? You’re probably at least as strong as I am, do you think you get a free card from carrying the bags just because you are a girl?” If he had known how strong she actually was, he probably wouldn’t have hesitated to let her carry all the bags.

It was just so typical, Ellen thought, when she finally met a guy who she actually fell for, and who might actually accept her for who she was, he suffered from the worst case of fear of commitment ever heard of among men. Not fair! She stood in the bathroom, wiping away her tears and fixing her makeup again while she considered her options. She had put herself out there, and she didn’t think there was any point in trying to pressure him further. Hopefully, he would come to his senses, but if he didn’t, she would just have to get over him somehow. Perhaps they could be friends eventually, but at the moment, Ellen didn’t know if she wanted that. Fortunately, Alex was gone by the time she got back to the party, and she decided to put on a brave face and pretend she was having a good time for now. But when she crawled down between her sheets two hours later, she couldn’t help the tears streaming down her cheeks, and she wondered if Cal would hear her cry or if he was too occupied to notice. She just briefly listened in at what he was up to, but tuned out at once. He was definitely otherwise engaged, and she really didn’t need to hear more of  _ that, _ especially not right now. 

Half amused, half annoyed (read, jealous), she realized that the sounds she heard couldn’t possibly be coming from only two people either. And the man cursing in Italian was most definitely not her brother or cousin. In other words, Will had gotten lucky tonight too. Well, good for him. And hopefully this meant that they wouldn’t have to suffer through any more of awkward café visits watching Will’s too obvious attempts to flirt with the barista. 

*

When Ellen woke up the next morning, she started packing for the holidays and turned on her laptop to send her last assignment in. They would be in Smallville over Christmas, and she was planning to spend at least three or fours days at the Fortress to practice controlling her heat vision. She had also signed up for meditation lessons with Sebastian, since it had worked out so well for Cal. The fact that he actually knew why they were practicing now would probably make it even more effective. She had really been looking forward to the holidays, but now she felt that her Christmas spirit was a bit subdued thanks to Alex.  _ Stupid Alex  _ she huffed and checked her phone again. Nope, nothing. No Emails, no texts, nothing on social media. Not even a “sorry I left” or “have a nice Christmas” or “forgive me for being a dick” or anything. Now, she would probably not see him for at least a couple of weeks. It seriously sucked, she couldn’t even begin to imagine how far her mind would be able to race during that time, and when they came back it would be totally awkward. 

She sighed and sat down at her desk to post the essay she had written but instead a large gif of a smiling, tail wagging, adorable puppy was staring at her with big, brown, pleading puppy eyes from her screen. No matter what she was doing the puppy just kept on sending her pleading looks. She didn’t know if she should laugh or be mad, but suddenly the puppy turned around and when it turned back, it had a paper roll between its teeth, with the text “please read me, I have a confession to make” written across it. She clicked on it, and the picture was replaced with a letter.

“Hi there… I have to tell you something. But first of all, I wanted to say sorry that I walked out on you last night. But I figured you didn’t want to talk to me anymore, and I needed some time to think. Or I was just a coward. I don’t know. Anyway, I’m sorry for being an idiot. Now to the point. If I’m even more sorry about anything else, it’s the fact that I can’t be together with you. I know the reasons I have given you may seem lame, but I am still quite convinced it wouldn’t work out, and thus it wouldn’t be fair to either of us to start something we can’t finish. I know it feels like it right now, but I don’t think you really understand what kind of life I want. It’s far from ordinary, and it’s nothing I would like to drag you into. The thing is that some of the stuff I would like to do could even be dangerous and put me in a position as a target. And before I know what to make of those ideas, I have promised myself to stay clear of relationships. I don’t want my judgement to be clouded, nor do I want to give up my dreams, or force them on you or anybody else. I know it sounds unromantic, like right now you’re thinking “oh, so I’m not worth that, huh?” but it’s actually more complicated. You know what I told you about my dad? He did give up his dreams for my mom, because she  _ was _ worth it. But it still wasn’t fair to either her or to him - in the end, he resented her for it, and she felt bad about it and it tore them apart. If she hadn’t died, they would probably have ended up divorced anyway. 

Well, to answer your next question… Why can’t we just date for a while? Like a college fling? And when it’s not convenient anymore, we could just go separate ways? The answer to that is that you are too important to me Ellen. I haven’t known you for so long, but right now I feel like I can’t imagine not having you in my life. And if we started going out, I can't see how we could ever go back to being just friends. Can you? The thing is, and here comes my big confession, the one I was too scared to make yesterday… I do love you Ellen. A lot. I have never met anyone like you either, and I never, ever imagined I would. But as things are right now, I would rather have you as a friend than to risk losing you completely. Perhaps someday, things will change. Or I will regret it forever, when you meet someone else. I’m not so stupid that I think a girl like you would just wait around forever for someone like me. But still, I’ll have to take the chance for now, and I hope I will always have you at least as a friend. Do you think you can do it? Be friends with me? It would mean so much to me, and I know I probably don’t deserve you, but I hope you’ll still say yes. Pleeeaase…?” 

When she clicked at the screen again, the letter disappeared and the dog flashed its puppy eyes at her again, and then it said “Be nice to him, he really adores you, you know…” and then it vanished from the screen altogether. 

Ellen still hadn’t decided if she was going to be mad at him for hacking her computer or if she just thought it was sweet. And she also didn’t know if she should be happy or just more frustrated about the message he had sent. Sure, it felt good for her ego to know her feelings were returned, but she still couldn’t have him, which was just even harder to accept now that she knew he actually did love her back. She guessed that in the end, the real question was whether or not she could live with them being just friends. She briefly wondered what he would do if she said no. The way he had said that he’d rather be her friend than nothing sort of assumed that she would say yes. She smiled a bit smugly to herself and sent him a text.

_ So what if I say no, huh? Would you go out with me then… I mean, it’s better than losing me completely if I don’t want to be your friend, right? _

It did not take long before she heard the phone beep.

_ Ha ha, Nice try… _

She smiled and sent him another one.

_ I’m just using your logic right back at ya… _

_ Cute… but seriously? Pls?  _ He answered.

_ Ok, I’ll give it my best, but you’ll probably drive me mad  _ Ellen answered, and quickly got three messages in a row.

_ I’ll do my very best… _

_ ...not to… ;) _

_ But thanks, I’m really glad you can forgive me for being an idiot.  _

Ellen sighed and put on a pair of slippers and shuffled out into the kitchen, wearing only an oversized t-shirt and panties. She had somehow managed to forget Will had company last night, and she jumped slightly at the unfamiliar sight of a bare, tattooed chest and a mop of messy black hair pulled back in a ponytail. Nico was standing over the counter looking oddly domestic, wearing nothing but a pair of too large sweatpants that most probably belonged to Will.

“Coffee?” he offered plainly, like if it was completely normal for him to stand half naked in their kitchen making breakfast. And Ellen had a feeling this was probably not the last time it would happen…

“Sure…” Ellen said, and accepted a mug of java so strong she didn’t know how he had even managed to get their coffee machine to deliver. She diluted it with a generous splash of milk, which made Nico frown like she had personally offended him.

“Later, then” He gave her a nod and disappeared down the hallway, balancing two mugs of coffee, a plate with what looked like an omelette, and a stack of toast on a small tray.

Well, why not? You meet a guy you like, you flirt for a while, get invited to a party, you have sex and you make him breakfast in his own home. No biggie, right? Why couldn’t her life be that simple? 

Stupid Alex...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoa, sorry for the late post if anyone follows this. Like I said, I have the whole thing more or less written since years back, but for this chapter I did some minor edits since I changed the dynamics of Will/his love interest (Nico, now...) and it also is so long it took forever editing out the worst spelling errors. 
> 
> And I was also waiting for the illustration, made by annawolfart.tumblr.com who made it as a practice piece for a course, but I think it turned out great, more or less just like I imagined Ellen.
> 
> Next time, there will be drama and long-awaited identity reveals and a lot of other goodies so stay tuned!


	19. Silver Kryptonite

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which things get a bit dramatic, and secrets are revealed

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warnings in this chapter for fighting, injuries, mild angst and a lot of blood.

The roads were finally cleared and the landscape was looking very much like a fluffy white Christmas card as the three cousins drove with Viola to Smallville the day after the Christmas party. Both Ellen and Leo were a bit low-spirited due to their depressing love lives. Or, rather, complete lack of such. They kept glaring in the mirror at Viola and Cal who were making out in the backseat. They weren’t really helping. Not at all. 

“Oh, please… can’t you two stop sucking face for like two seconds…” Ellen huffed.

“What? We’re going to be spending days apart here…” Cal defended himself.

“No, you’re not…it’s just a couple of nights. You will still see each other at the Kent family dinner and at Viola’s on Christmas eve, and…” 

“Yeah, even worse… imagine being teased like that all day and then go home and sleep alone…” Viola snickered.

“Don’t you start with me… imagine being kissed like you think your head will blow off and then turned down…” Ellen sulked. She had told them about both the kissing and the letter from Alex at least three times already, but she was still fuming angry about it all.

“Yeah, well. He and Holly could really found some kind of secret society for people with fear of commitment. At least Alex showed up for the party…” Leo complained.

“Speaking of showing up… what about this Nico guy, huh? Can someone tell me what happened there? Some hot Italian dude I never even met show up for the party, and ends up staying the night with Will?” he asked incredulous, in an attempt to change the subject. “I didn’t think Will did casual sex anyway. I’m a bit offended. I’ve spent like way too much energy getting into his pants over the years, and now he hooks up with some guy he barely knows?” 

“Oh, I think we always knew Will just has better taste than to let himself land in you bed…” Ellen teased.

“Be nice, woman… My self esteem is already broken here…” 

“But seriously… I know it hasn’t been that long since Eric, and maybe it’s just a rebound thing… but Will seems to be crushing hard on that guy. He doesn’t shut up about him, really. And now he suddenly made the decision to stay in Metropolis for two more days?” Cal pitched in.

“I know. He’s got it bad. You should have seen his face the first time we walked into the coffeeshop and Nico was there. I thought he was going to faint on the spot…” Viola giggled.

“Well, good for him in any case…” Cal said cheerfully. 

“We’ll just be lonely forever among all the happy couples then Ellen…” Leo pouted and looked at Ellen for support.

“Come on… just forget about those idiots for a couple of days, ok? I’m sure they will both come to their senses eventually… I mean, who can resist love in the long run…? Nothing could ever make me want to be apart from Cal.” Viola tried to comfort them. 

Somehow, she had kind of a feeling of foreboding the moment she said it. But she shook it off as embarrassment for being so mushy. As it turned out, she shouldn’t have.

*

It all started on boxing day. Cal came over to pick up Viola and Sebastian, whom they were going to drive to the airport on their way back to Metropolis. They had spent a couple of nice, relaxing days together, celebrating Christmas and just hanging out. Ellen had taken meditation lessons from Sebastian, and Viola was slowly getting a bit suspicious at the way the twins and her brother sometimes just stopped talking when she came into the room. She got the eerie feeling he knew something she didn’t. It couldn’t be possible they had let him in on the big family secret, and not her, could it? Normally, she had stopped caring about the secrecy, but she found it hard to accept that her brother might have been let in before her, and she was slowly getting annoyed. 

Today, however, Ellen had said goodbye to Sebastian earlier in the morning and left on some secret family thing again, and now Viola was talking to her boyfriend, while Sebastian was gathering the last of his things from around the house, when her father came up to them, enthusiastic. 

“Cal. I’ve got something to show you…” Sven said, almost jumping with excitement, and Viola rolled her eyes. Her dad had been talking about little else all Christmas. 

“What…?” Cal asked, curiously.

“You’re not going to believe what I found…” he said, and handed Cal a stone, glimmering like silver.

Cal turned the rock over in his palm, but yelped out loud when he suddenly cut himself and some blood trickled down his finger.

“What the hell…?” he said, sounding surprised and a bit scared. 

“Oh, sorry. I didn’t realize it was so sharp…” Sven said sheepishly.

“What is this?” Cal asked, and Viola noticed that he sounded a bit frightened, or maybe angry…?

“I think it’s a new type of meteor rock… It’s never been seen before…”

“And you thought you would let me cut myself on it?” Cal muttered… “Do you even know how dangerous this could be?” he continued, sounding almost angry now. Viola frowned and tried to calm him down. 

“Relax, it’s not like he was doing it on purpose…”

“Don’t worry Cal. I’ve run some preliminary tests, and it doesn’t seem to have any dangerous properties…”

“Come on, I’ll get you a band aid… and kiss it better?” Viola smiled at him, and he calmed down as he went along with her. 

Viola noticed Cal was very quiet all the way to the airport though, he hardly said a word to anyone and his goodbye to Sebastian was rather cold and short, considering how they seemed to have been bonding in the last few days. Sebastian noticed too, it seemed. He took Viola aside and asked if Cal was ok, but she just shrugged. 

“I don’t know, I have a bad feeling about this… promise me you’ll call Ellen or his parents if it gets worse, ok?” her brother asked her before he left. 

*

“Come on, Cal… what’s up with you? We have the whole apartment to ourselves tonight… Tomorrow, Leo and his parents are coming, remember? I was hoping we were going to have some fun…” Viola whispered seductively. She had dressed up in her best nightie and tried to surprise him where he sat in the living room watching a movie. But he seemed completely unimpressed. He had been acting weird all day, but wouldn’t tell her why. Now, he didn’t even want to have sex, it seemed. What the hell was up with him? It was the first time during their whole relationship he had actually turned her down…

“Yeah, I’m not in the mood, ok?”

“Come on… talk to me? What’s wrong…?” she tried again, but she only managed to make him mad.

“What? Does something have to be wrong for me to want to do something else for once than have sex? Is that all this relationship is about for you? I know you joked about using me for sex when we got back together, but you know what? Sometimes I think it’s true…” he scoffed. 

“What the hell are you talking about Cal? It’s not like you’re not usually just as eager. As a matter of fact, just yesterday you totally used sex to shut me up when I asked what you were up to with Sebastian…”

“Yeah, but perhaps your whole family is getting a bit too nosy for their own good. You’re just trying to figure my secret out. I wish you would just stop bugging me…” Cal shouted at her now.

“Ok, if that’s what you feel, maybe I should just be going back to my place to sleep…I’m kind of getting sick of you never trusting me Cal...” Viola huffed, and when he didn’t protest, she just packed up her things and left. 

Viola cried most of the night, and she woke up feeling miserable. What had happened yesterday? She had been caught up in the fight and taking her own frustration out on him, but now when she thought about it, and when she remembered Sebastian’s warning, she realized something wasn’t right. The last time Cal had done anything as weird had been when he had fake-broken up with her… and she had promised never to doubt that he loved her again. She sighed and got dressed, determined to confront him and sort this out even when he didn’t answer any of her calls or texts. 

When she got to the apartment, she was freaking out, however. At first, he wouldn’t even let her in. Then he kept saying he couldn’t trust her, and that he couldn’t trust anyone else either. They were all out to get him, apparently. He didn’t look well either, and she noticed he didn’t have his bracelet on. He was also still bleeding from his finger, which was odd. It had only been a tiny cut, after all.

“Where is your bracelet?” she asked cautiously. 

“Why do you care?”

“Just asking… relax.” she said, and tried to comfort him, but he pulled away.

“I threw it away. They are using it to control me, you know…” he said, nodding, eyes a bit crazy.

“Who is…?” 

“I can’t tell you… but you should watch out. They will get to you too…” 

“I think we should call someone Cal… trust me, I love you, but you are not yourself right now…” she said, but backed off at his furious glance “...and you finger… you are still bleeding… are you sure there is nobody you can trust? What about Ellen? Or your parents?” she tried to calm him down, but his eyes were wild and she was really getting scared. She thought about her suspicions that he had a meteor power. What if he had finally snapped after all, like they all seemed to do… She felt the tears pooling in her eyes, and her heart race. Would he hurt her?

“Why are you afraid of me…? You are in on it too, right?” Cal was closing in on her, looking furious now. Viola felt the tears starting to stream down her cheeks. She had never been so scared. It was like her adorable boyfriend was gone. She didn’t recognize this person at all, and she knew he could easily hurt her if he wanted to.

“Please Cal… it’s me… Viola… I love you, remember?” she tried, wanting desperately for him to hold on to her words of comfort, but he just looked confused and still angry. He stopped coming closer though, and Viola was starting to relax, when Cal suddenly froze.

“What was that?” he asked, listening, and the next thing she knew, Leo stepped into the apartment, looking bewildered at Viola’s frightened expression and her tears.

“Hey, what’s happening…?” 

“Nothing, Leo… stay out of this…” Cal turned around and hissed at him.

“Man… you don’t look so good... are you ok?” he asked cautiously, taking a step back and holding his hands up at Cal’s furious expression. “Hey, where’s your bracelet…?” he also realized it was missing and was starting to get worried. Something was not right. Definitely not right.

“Not you too... “ Cal shouted. “Why can’t everyone just leave me alone…?” 

“What happened to your hand? That’s not right… you’re bleeding mate…” he suddenly noticed and his face froze up in a terrified expression. Viola didn’t know why that tiny cut seemed to scare everyone, but it couldn’t be good…

“I’m telling you… They are closing in on me Leo… It was her dad… I swear. She’s in on it…” he started rambling.

“Look, why don’t you just sit down and relax. I have something that will help you. I’ll make sure she doesn’t hurt you...” Leo said reassuringly to Cal, and when Viola opened her mouth to protest, he gave her a threatening look and she closed it again. 

It seemed Leo at least had some idea what to do… He went to his room and beckoned for Viola to follow. He put a finger to his mouth to signal she be quiet, and wrote on a piece of paper  _ Do you have the necklace he gave you last Christmas?  _ She shook her head. Damn. She had left it in the dorm, she actually took it off last night when she was pissed at Cal and she forgot about it. Leo made a face but he picked up a metal box from a drawer. It contained three arrows with heads made from what seemed to be green meteor rock. Viola’s mouth fell open and her eyes widened, but he looked at her and shook his head when she tried to talk.  _ It’s the only way, just stay out of harm’s way, ok? _ he wrote on the paper, took one of the arrows and pulled out a bow from under his bed. 

A million thoughts went through Viola’s head. Was Cal going to hurt them and Leo wanted to defend her? Or had he been right? Were they out to get him? What did Leo want with the necklace? Why the hell did he have a bow under his bed? She knew there was something she should remember, but her head just kept spinning. In the meantime, Leo was sneaking back out into the living room, and when she saw him aim the bow she panicked.

“Don’t hurt him…” she pleaded, and Cal turned around just as the arrow flew through the air. He acted in a flash, and somehow he managed to grasp the arrow in midair, but he still yelled out as if it had burned him.

“Shit…” Leo swore… “Call Ellen, NOW. I think it’s silver k, he’s been infected… It’s the only explanation... use one of the arrows to protect yourself if you can get it…” he shouted at Viola, right before Cal flung himself at him. He was still holding the green arrow, and Leo managed to snatch it from him before they started fighting.”

“Call…Ellen... NOW… I’ll try to hold him off…” Leo screamed again and Viola unfroze and pulled out her phone, running into the kitchen. Her heart pounded like mad while she told her assistant to call Ellen. No answer. Viola heard crashing sounds and a scream from the living room. She called again. And again. And again. The fourth time, Ellen picked up.

“Vi, sorry… Kind of busy, can I call back?” she answered, panting.

“NO” Viola shouted, and continued quickly before Ellen could hang up on her “Emergency. Leo told me to call you… Something about Silver K. Cal’s going insane Ellen. I’m so scared… He’s violent and he attacked Leo… but he tried to shoot him. I don’t know what’s happening...” Viola half cried, half screamed into the phone… and Ellen went absolutely quiet for a couple of seconds.

“Do you have your necklace…?” she asked, her voice was cold, but calm, with a tiny hint of panic.

“No, it’s in the dorm…” Viola sobbed.

“I’ll be there in five minutes, maximum. I’ll try to send help sooner… Stay out of his way if you can. Or try to distract him so he doesn’t hurt Leo… But be careful, ok? He’s not himself, you can’t trust him...” she hung up and Viola walked back into the living room on shaking legs. 

She instantly realized she was too late. She came in just in time to see Cal throw Leo into the wall, before collapsing on the ground, bleeding heavily from a wound in his side where the tail of the arrow was sticking out. Leo’s head crashed against the wall with a very ominous sound and he too sank down, lifeless, on the ground. Viola’s heart stopped for a second, and she felt her stomach drop, a piercing chill spreading through her body. She ran up to Cal, and threw her arms around him, sobbing.

“Be ok, please be ok…” she cried, when she heard a whooshing sound, and suddenly, none other than a pale looking Superman was standing there.

“I don’t know what happened… They were fighting. I was on the phone trying to get help…” she sobbed. “Are they going to be ok?” she asked, tears streaming down her face, when she saw Superman’s stern look. 

“I don’t know. I have to take him to the hospital first.” he nodded at Leo “You have to do something for me. You have to pull that arrow out and get it away from Callum while I’m gone, or I can’t help him… Do you know where it came from?” Superman asked, with a serious look, and when Viola nodded, he continued. “Good. Put it back there, as quickly as you can…” and he lifted Leo carefully and flew off, out through the kitchen and from the balcony, she assumed. 

Viola didn’t have time to think about what he had said or how he could know about the arrow. Or how he could even know something had happened. She only knew she had to do what he had told her. She had to save Cal. She drew a shaky breath, braced herself and pulled at the arrow with trembling hands, but it wouldn’t move. Cal didn’t even flinch, and Viola felt the panic rising. At that moment, Ellen came crashing in through the door, seemingly out of nowhere, and ran up to them, face ashen grey.

“What happened…?” she screamed.

“They fought… Leo’s knocked out. Superman took him… have to get the arrow out…” Viola sobbed. “Oh, god Ellen… I don’t think he’s breathing…”

“Let me…” Ellen said, and grabbed the arrow, but flinched and pulled back. “Fuck, it’s kryptonite… meteor rock…” she changed her mind at Viola’s confused expression.

“You have to break it and push it through…” Ellen said, trying to move Cal to the side, while Viola somehow managed to snap the arrow in two, getting blood and splinters all over her hands. She felt the adrenaline rushing through her body, heart slamming violently against her ribs and head pounding with white noise. She had never been so scared in her whole life. Or, maybe once. Her mind flashed back to the accident when her mother had died, which wasn’t helping much at all. And the smell of blood was sickening. She just wanted to throw up, and her eyes were blinded by tears. She heard Ellen scream out in pain, and then screamed that she should hurry. She saw her lips move, but it seemed like the sound came from somewhere at the back of her head.

“Just get that fucking thing out of him and away from us…” she roared, and Viola snapped out of it and pushed the arrow out, shuddering at the squelching sound and sickening feeling of metal sliding through flesh. She took it and ran back to Leo’s room, shutting it up in the metal box again with shaking hands.

When she came back, Ellen was pressing at the wound, crying, while Superman just flew in again.

“The arrow is out. He’s not healing. Why is he not healing?” Ellen screamed, a note of panic in her voice.

“It’s the silver kryptonite… There must be a piece in his system. I have to close the wound and take him to Emil. Stand back…” Superman ordered, and Ellen took Viola’s hand and stood back, watching while he used his heat vision to cauterize the wounds. 

“Are you sure…? How the hell did he even come into contact with that stuff… I thought you had destroyed it all?” Ellen half screamed, panic still in her voice.

Something slowly connected in Viola’s mind. “Oh my god.. it was the silver rock my dad found… wasn’t it? What’s happening to him…? This is my fault…” She said with a trembling voice.

“No, this isn’t your fault… it was an accident. You couldn’t possibly have known.” Superman said calmly, while he worked on Cal’s wounds, but suddenly, Ellen exploded.

“ACCIDENT…!? this is YOUR fault. YOUR! “ she screamed, and Viola flinched, but then she realized Ellen wasn’t addressing her. She was pointing a threatening finger at Superman.

“Calm down Ellen, you're not helping. It’s nobody's fault…” Superman said, trying to sound calm. Viola hardly had time to register that Superman had used Ellen’s name, before she started shouting again.

“No, don’t. It’s your fault. You and your damn secrets. If Viola had known, she wouldn’t have been stupid enough to let him touch that thing. And if he had, she would have called us at once. And even if she hadn’t known about silver k, she would have known how to stop him. He even gave her a blue k necklace, but she left it at home because she didn’t know why she had it. Because YOU wouldn’t let him tell her. What if he dies on us now, huh? Is it worth his life to protect your fucking secret…?” she screamed, tears flooding down her cheeks. 

“You calm down right now, young lady.” Superman raised his voice at Ellen and shot her a warning look, but then his voice softened. “You can yell at me later. I think he’s stable now, and I’m going to take him to Dr Emil in the Metropolis Watchtower. I want you to call Lois, and then you’d better take Viola and come after us and meet us there…” he said.

“Ok, but if you even think about memory wiping her, I’ll come after you with that kryptonite arrow myself, I swear to god..” Ellen said…. But then she added a weak “Is he going to be ok…?”

“I think so honey… don’t worry. He’s a fighter.” Superman gave her a weak smile and he lifted Cal carefully and flew off with him.

Viola just stared blankly at Ellen, who picked up her phone. She knew she had all the pieces of the puzzle now, but her groggy brain didn’t manage to put them together. Right now, the only thing she could think was  _ he can’t die, he can’t die… _ When she heard Ellen tell her mom that “...dad took him to Watchtower” her brain only responded with  _ Oh, right. Of course... _

When Ellen hung up the phone, she pulled Viola into her arms, and they both cried for a couple of minutes. “Please, tell me he’s going to be ok… I can’t lose him too Ellen…It’s like mom all over again.” Viola sobbed. She didn’t care about secrets or Superheroes of anything else right now. She only cared about Cal. 

“I hope so… I can’t lose him either Vi… Let’s go check it out. But maybe we should get cleaned up first…? They probably need some space to get that damn thing out of his system. It won’t be a pretty sight... ” she said, frowning at the look of Viola’s bloody clothes and hands. 

They rushed into their bedrooms and dug out some fresh clothes and Viola went into the bathroom, washing the blood off her hands and her face. His blood. She froze again, praying to some deity she didn’t really believe in to  _ please, please, please, let him be ok. _ She was too scared to really give the secret much thought, but she couldn’t help that part of her mind was racing around the unbelievable truth. 

Yep. That was some secret. Like the mother of all secrets.  _ Bloody, hell…  _

No, she had to save those thoughts for later. There wasn’t enough room in her head to wrap her mind around what it meant that her boyfriend’s dad was Superman. She had known he was strong, but what if he had more of his powers? Ellen seemed to have expected him to heal from the wound, once the arrow was out… And the way Ellen had been busy, but still showed up in four and a half minutes after the phone call. She probably hadn’t been in the basement. Viola was getting a headache… She pushed the confused thoughts away for now, and went looking for Ellen. She too had changed clothes and stood in the living room, waiting.

“Are you ready? Let’s go…” Ellen said.

“So… how far is this Watchtower? And how are we getting there? Do you fly too?” Viola asked, bluntly while they went down the elevator, and Ellen let slip a small chuckle.

“No… No, I don’t… but I can run really, really fast… It would be the quickest way, if you’d let me take you along...” she said, measuring her friend up once they got outside.

“Sure…” 

“You trust me, right?” Ellen said, and led Viola into an alley right behind the house. 

“Sure I do...” she answered, feeling a tad uncertain. It was one of those things that people in movies always said right before doing something completely crazy or perhaps even dangerous. ”...famous last words…?” she added with a weak grin.

“Just close your eyes if you get motion sickness…” Ellen said, and then Viola just felt her arms, and then the wind around her head before they stopped, twenty seconds later, in front of a building Viola was pretty sure was almost on the other side of town. 

“Bloody hell…” she gasped.

“Yeah, I know… let’s go find my brother, shall we…? You can freak out later.” Ellen said, and led Viola through the door. 

Ellen sighed. Viola’s reaction would have made her laugh, if the situation hadn’t been so serious. They went in through two locked doors, which Ellen used her fingerprint and a code to open. Then they stepped into an elevator, where a voice demanded identification.

“Ellen Lane Kent, with guest Viola Andersson…” Ellen told the computer voice, and opened her eyes at a camera, which evidently scanned her retina. 

“Clear to ascend, identity confirmed. Guest access granted” the computer announced after a few seconds and the elevator started to ascend.

“They don’t let just anyone into this place, I take it?” Viola raised her eyebrows. She couldn’t help but be a bit awed, even if she was terrified about what news awaited above the elevator.

“Nope.” Ellen shrugged “This is the main headquarters of the Justice League on Earth. They’ve got a place in space too, but that’s only for members…”

“Holy hell…” Viola gaped, but at that moment the doors opened and they stepped in to a large room full of computers, screens, instruments and tech, but with less people than Viola would have expected. She didn’t really bother to take it all in though, she was glancing around looking for Cal, but she couldn’t find him anywhere. Then she saw Lois running towards them, with a worried look on her face, but still with a faint smile that made Viola’s heart beat a bit faster.

“Mom… is he ok?” Ellen said in a weak voice.

Lois nodded and embraced her daughter first, and then Viola.

“They have him stabilized. The kryptonite is out of his system…” she said and Ellen and Viola both laughed out loud in relief.

Then Clark came down a staircase, and Ellen flung herself in his arms.

“I’m sorry dad… I shouldn’t have said… I panicked… I’m so sorry…” she sobbed into his shoulder and he just held her close and comforted her.

He was out of the suit, and he wore jeans and a t-shirt, but Viola noticed he didn’t look like he usually did. For starters, he didn’t have his glasses, and his hair was different. There was also something about his posture, and the way he moved…

“Viola, I want you to meet my dad... “ Ellen said, smiling, when she finally let go of him. 

“Uhm… I’ve already met your dad Ellen…” Viola frowned, and gave Ellen a confused look, but Clark just chuckled and shook his head at his daughter.

“No, you haven’t… She hasn’t dad..” she turned from Clark to Viola and back. “She’s met your bumbling reporter alter ego, and she’s met Superman, but none of them is actually you…” Ellen said, and Viola suddenly understood what she meant. That’s what was different. Clark was always playing a part, to keep his two identities separated, and few people probably knew his real self. That would explain why he wasn’t so keen on visitors at home, that would force him into a role again… 

“Oki, then… nice to meet you. I’m Viola…still just me, though…” Viola smiled to keep it light, and shook his hand. 

“Don’t listen to Ellen, I’m not that different from how you know me, really... “ Clark shook his head. “But how are you holding up… this must have been some shock for you…?” he raised his eyebrows.

“Which part…? I’m still processing the part where my boyfriend almost died, I’ll be shocked about the other stuff later… Where is he? Can I see him?” she asked, but then she remembered something. “Oh, God… How’s Leo doing? Shit, I almost forgot about that...” she clasped her hands to her mouth.

Lois and Clark exchanged a look, and both their faces suddenly looked serious. Viola felt Ellen grasp her hand, a little too tightly, and saw the color drain from her friend’s face once again.

“They say he’s stable, but he’s not completely out of the woods yet… He has a serious concussion, and a couple of broken ribs. They are keeping him under an anaesthetic to prevent any permanent brain damage, but we are hopeful that he’s going to make a full recovery…” Clark said. 

Ellen sunk down on a chair, feeling a bit dizzy, and Viola just stood frozen. 

“Does Cal know…?” Ellen asked, voice trembling a bit.

“No, he’s still unconscious,” Lois said, but quickly added “but don’t worry about him. He’s going to be ok in no time compared to Leo… As a matter of fact, I almost hope he doesn’t wake up until we can tell him Leo’s going to be ok.”

“Mom…”

“Yeah, but imagine it had been you who had done it… I mean, we all know it wasn’t Cal’s fault, but he won’t see it that way.” Lois said.

“I guess you’re right…”

“So, can someone please explain about this silver kryptite thingy? It was really scary to see him like that, to tell you the truth...” Viola said.

“Silver Kryptonite…”

“Yeah, exactly…” 

“Well, I guess we can just as well fill you in on it. We’ll have to go through some things later about the responsibilities of keeping this secret…” Clark started.

“Please, save the lecture for later dad, she just watched her boyfriend go completely paranoid maniac and almost die, I think she deserves an explanation first…” Ellen huffed.

“Ok, ok… Well, what you call meteor rock is actually residues of my home planet Krypton, which, as you may know, was destroyed in an explosion many years ago. What not everyone knows is that my spaceship landed in the first meteor shower that hit Smallville, and with it came some different varieties of radioactive minerals. We call them kryptonite…” Clark went on to explain about the different forms of kryptonite, and what they knew so far about its effects on humans vs kryptonians and half-kryptonians.

They talked for a long while about the Justice League, about how the Heroes were able to maintain double lives, about the secret keeping and the responsibilities that Viola would have to accept, but they didn’t want to talk much about Cal. Viola was curious about a lot of things, obviously. Like what kind of powers he had and what his life was like. She was also eager to finally get some answers to things that had mystified her. Like the true story behind the break up, his bracelet and other things. But she could understand why the others thought it was better to leave some of the juicy details for Cal to tell her himself. She wanted to see him so much, but his doctor, Emil, had told them he wasn’t to be disturbed yet. 

At that moment, Oliver and Chloe came in through the doors, and Lois jumped up and pulled Chloe into a tight embrace.

“How is he?” she asked, a scared look on her face.

“We think he’ll be ok. We just came from the hospital… there’s not much we can do there at the moment anyway after talking to the doctors. The swelling in the brain has gone down, and it doesn’t look like anything has been damaged.“

“Oh, thank god…” Lois sighed in relief.

“They will keep him under anesthetics for the next twenty four hours though. When he wakes up, well know for sure.”

“Lucky you had already arrived in Metropolis…” Clark said to Oliver.

“Yeah… how’s Cal doing?”

“Sleeping, but he’ll be fine.”

“Oh, god… I’m so sorry… I still feel like this whole mess is my fault… If I hadn’t stopped Leo from shooting him with that arrow at first… but I thought he was going to kill him…” Viola started, completely devastated, and started to cry again. She didn’t know if she had cried this much since her mother had died. Probably not even then…

“Don’t worry dear. This is not your fault. Ellen was right about one thing. We should have told you sooner, then things might have turned out differently…” Clark said and put an arm around her. “But if there is one thing that life has taught us over the years, and in the hardest of ways, it is that handing out blame for something that can’t be changed isn’t helping anyone. Ever.”

“Amen to that…” Oliver said. “As a matter of fact, I’ll drink to that if there’s any beer around… If I ever needed a drink….” he sighed and plopped down on the couch opposite of where Viola and Ellen sat while Lois went out to get some drinks from the small kitchen. 

“If you feel up to talking about it, we would like to hear about what happened though…” Oliver turned to Viola.

“Yeah, but first I have another question about my son…” Chloe said, sounding very curious.

“What?” Ellen asked

“Since when does he have a girlfriend?” she smiled widely for the first time since she got there.

“What…? I don’t think he does actually…” Ellen said, a bit confused. 

“I don’t know, but when we came back to his room to say goodbye after talking to the doctors, there was a girl in there. And she was holding his hand, crying all over him… She looked devastated, the poor thing, but since he’s supposed to be incognito and we didn’t know her, we couldn’t talk to her and tell her it was going to be ok. I hope someone else did though…”

“Holly…!” Ellen and Viola looked at each other, smiling. 

“Holly?” Chloe asked.

“Well, was she pretty? Rather tall, with long, hazel hair…?” Ellen started, but Viola was quicker with her phone and dug out a photo.

“Yep, that’s her…” Chloe said.

“How did she even know he was in the hospital?” Ellen asked, eyeing Viola.

“No idea, I didn’t tell her…” Viola shook her head. 

“So…. are you going to spill, or what?” Lois gave Ellen a demanding look.

“Well… they have sort of been seeing each other a little. But they decided to stop doing that… or, I don’t know. It’s complicated. Let’s just say that we think they both have feelings for each other, but they got kind of scared when it got serious. Perhaps this little fright will have some positive consequences and make them rethink it…” Ellen tried to explain. It wasn’t exactly easy to explain to Leo’s parents that he usually just slept around, and Holly was the same way… Not something you necessarily want your mom to know. Although Ellen knew for a fact Leo’s father had gone through periods like that himself, so he shouldn’t really talk…

“Ok, that was a bit cryptic… but I won’t pry… Just tell me, what’s she like? Do you know her?” Chloe asked, not able to help herself. She knew all too well what Leo was like, and if he had finally actually fallen for a girl for real, she was just all too happy... 

“She’s nice… She’s my roommate, actually. She’s in med school… I don’t know what else to tell you.” Viola said. She didn’t want to talk about the status of their relationship any more than Ellen did.

“Why are you guys talking about Holly?” Cal suddenly asked, coming down the stairs.

*

“Oh my goodness… you’re awake…” Viola shrieked and jumped up, throwing herself in his arms. “You scared the hell out of me you bastard…” she started to hit him and kiss him at the same time, and at first, he just laughed at her but then he got serious.

“Vi, I’m so sorry… I could have hurt you… Damn… Leo. How’s Leo?” he suddenly remembered and turned to the others, while Ellen and Lois too got up to hug him.

“We think he’s going to be ok… He took a pretty hard blow to the head, and he’s in the hospital with a concussion. But don’t worry, he’ll survive…” Oliver put a comforting arm around his nephew.

“Thank fuck... But I still feel awful. I can’t believe I would do that. It felt so real… I thought he was going to kill me…” Cal sighed, and sank down on the couch.

“And he almost did, mind you…” Lois gave him a wink, trying to keep his mood up.

“Yeah, but still… that’s different. He tried to stop me, he didn’t even mean to hit me in the side like that. I could have really hurt him, if he hadn’t had the kryptonite arrow to make the fight a bit more fair…” he said, but shot a glance at Viola “I take it, she knows?” he looked at his dad, who nodded. 

*

“Are you sure you want me to stay? I have like a million questions, but I think we both really need to sleep…” Viola asked. 

It was hours and hours later, in the middle of the night, or more like early in the morning, when they finally got back to the apartment. They had told the story about what happened and discussed it so thoroughly that there was nothing left to say about it, at least not before Leo was awake and could add his perspective. 

At long last, it was decided that they should all get some sleep, and they could go to the hospital the next day. Leo was sleeping anyway and it was long past visiting hours. Cal had a final check up with doctor Emil, but he seemed fine. The last of the scars on his belly was starting to fade away too. He wasn’t healing instantly, like Clark, but it was a rather quick process still. 

Viola had been quite impressed by the Superman-express flight back home to the apartment. Ellen had said she could take her again, as she thought Cal should be resting, but Clark had offered instead. And it sure had been cool to soar high over the city like that. Viola hoped that she would be able to do it again some time when she was in a better position to enjoy the ride. 

Now, Viola knew Cal needed sleep, but she was still very much excited. She just wanted to keep talking. And perhaps make love… but she knew she should leave him alone, really. 

“No, I want you to stay… If you want to…? Or… I mean… How do you feel about all this?” 

“I don’t know Cal. I mean, I have so many questions… and I guess it hasn’t really sunk in. But I don’t want to think about it now. The consequences I mean. It’s huge... I had figured out you had some kind of power, but I thought you were meteor infected or something. I could never have imagined this… But I guess I should have. I feel kind of stupid…” She made a brief pause and saw the look on Cal’s face “...and I’m rambling again, right? I promised you sleep… We’ll talk tomorrow, ok?”

“I love you Viola…”

“I love you too. That won’t ever change, you know…” she said and kissed him affectionately on the lips. 

He pulled her close and deepened the kiss, never wanting to let her go. He was afraid that she would freak out and leave him, once the magnitude of the secret had sunk in. He needed to show her how much he loved her, and that he was still the same person, her boyfriend. Her lover. When he pulled her up on top of him and snaked his hands under her top, she smiled into his kiss.

“I thought you needed sleep…”

“Yeah, but I need you too…” he whispered huskily and pulled her top off, and wrapped her completely up in his arms. 

“I guess a quickie never hurt….” she smiled back at him, and he twisted them around, superspeed and pulled his t-shirt off, equally fast. “...perhaps not that quick all the way…” she giggled into his ear, and then she started chewing on it. “So if I bite you now, it won’t even hurt…?” she continued giggling.

“Not much anyway...” he said, but pulled her away. “But we’ll play that game later, now I had something else in mind” 

*

“I really, really should have known something was not right when you turned down sex… Even almost being killed won’t get you out of the mood, apparently…” Viola said as she lay with her head on his naked chest in the afterglow.

“Yeah… It should have been a dead giveaway. And thanks for telling my parents about that by the way. That wasn’t embarrassing at all…” he huffed a bit playfully at her. 

“Oh, come on… we’re all adults right? And we know for a fact they still do it too… Imagine Superman…” Viola clasped her hands to her mouth and started laughing hysterically.

“What?” Cal, asked, amused?

“Oh. My. God. I just remembered something…” she sat up and pulled on her top.

“Ellen!!” she yelled, turning to Cal “...she can hear me, right?“ she asked in a lower voice.

“Yeah, in that voice level, I just hope you didn’t wake Ollie and Chloe up…” he said, right before Ellen came barging through the door.

“What happened? Is something wrong…?” she looked around, bewildered, but all seemed normal. Cal and Viola were just laying in bed and the only thing out of the ordinary was that she, at least, seemed to have clothes on.

“No, I just realized I owe you an apology…” Viola said, still snorting with laughter. 

“Why?” Ellen asked curiously.

“I think I just broke a promise I made you on our first girls night at my place… Actually, I may have broken it one or two times before, but this was the first time I did it knowingly…” she giggled and realization dawned upon Ellen, who started laughing too…

“Yeah, I guess I will just have to find some way to forgive you…” she said, shaking her head.

“God, I can’t believe how you made it through that conversation without dying…” she gave her friend a sympathetic smile.

“Yeah, I can tell you it was a bit difficult not to laugh... or throw up…” Ellen sniggered.

“Do you mind filling me in here?” Cal said eyebrows raised.

“Yes, as a matter of fact… What is discussed at girls’ night stays at girls’ night…” Viola gave him an evil grin.

“What? Seriously?” 

“Yeah, right back at you for keeping the mother of all secrets from me, like forever…” she grinned.

“Oh, be nice to him… he has really wanted to tell you since before you even started dating…” Ellen came to her brother’s defence. 

“I’ll sleep on it…” Viola smirked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I know in the original Smallville series, Oliver Queen "came out" to the public as Green Arrow. I'm sort of ignoring that here, because otherwise this series wouldn't work. It was always the one thing I didn't like about Smallville too... I prefer my heroes with their identities hidden to the public :) Let's just say he changed his mind and had the whole world obliviated, ok?


	20. Will you kiss me at midnight?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which some misunderstandings are cleared, some decisions are made and some things just never seem to change...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A minor smut-warning somewhere towards the end of this, if I recall correctly (I just posted this as it is, see end notes)

Viola woke up with a start, panic flooding her body, cold sweat dripping down her forehead. She had fallen asleep in Cal’s arms the night before, only feeling relief that all was well. He was going to be ok. All was going to be ok. 

Now, merely hours later, it was as if something had changed in her. She didn’t know if it was the terrible nightmares that had been haunting her sleep or if the truth had just fi nally sunk in. She had dreamed about a lot of blood; there had been the events from the day before, naturally, but also flashes of her mother’s accident that she had somehow suppressed for years. In the end, the dream had changed. She had been the one climbing the mountain wall, and Cal was holding the rope secure. Suddenly there was a call for Superman from somewhere, and he took off, flying, and let her fall to her death, screaming. She woke up just before she hit the ground, as it always is with nightmares. She sat up in bed, wrapping her arms around her legs, tears streaming down her face. She thought about waking Cal up, but she didn’t. 

Was her brain trying to warn her? She still didn’t know all about his powers, Ellen had only said they had some of them; but she knew he had the strength, the speed, the invulnerability, and the healing power, at least in the same division as Superman. More than enough to make a powerful superhero out of him one day. Was she ok with that? She didn’t know… She thought about the way she would always have to lie. She couldn’t even tell her dad or her friends about him. And he would always have to make sacrifices for others. She would always come in second. Would he have to hide behind some alter ego too, pretending to be clumsy and have a bad haircut? Or what if he didn’t want all of that because of her? What if she freaked out, and he would say he’d rather be with her than help saving the world? She couldn’t let him do that… That would be an awfully egocentric thing to do... 

“Hey, are you ok?” Cal stroked her gently over the hair, where she sat. Her sobbing had finally woken him up. Normally, he would have registered it sooner, but he had been totally beat. 

“I don’t know… I had a nightmare…” she whispered, but instead of giving in to his warm embrace, she just sat there, face hidden in her arms against her knees. 

“Do you want to tell me about it?” Cal asked, starting to feel worried. He had a hunch…

“I don’t know… I can’t… I have to think…” Viola stuttered.

“It’s about what happened, right?” he said, feeling his stomach drop. He had been afraid of this… Of course, she would be frightened of him now. She had seen him do and say some terrible things.

“Well.. not exactly. I dreamed about that a bit, but…. It’s just… everything. I guess it finally got to me. What you are. Who you are…” she said, not daring to face him. 

“I see… But you know I’m still the same guy, right? The one who adores you and who would never, ever hurt you…? I don’t even really think I would have under the influence of silver k, and that’s something we’ll make sure never to repeat, ok?”

“I know Cal. I’m not afraid of you… I still love you like crazy. That’s not it…”

“So, what is it?” 

“I don’t know… I just… I mean. I know that I love you. I just don’t know if I can do this. If I can be who you need in your life…”

“If you’re talking about the superhero thing, I’m not even sure that’s something I want to do… and if I ever needed anyone, it’d be you…” he tried to comfort her, but he felt the tears pooling in his own eyes now.  _ No, not this. _ First he almost died, and then Leo was hurt, and now he was going to lose Viola… 

“Yeah, but this is just it… I don’t want to stand in the way of your destiny… I don’t want to hold you back. I just have to think about this. I have to decide if I could be the one who stands beside you if that day ever comes when you do want to join the League. If I can’t, I don’t know… then I will just be afraid I will be in your way...” she gave him a small, sad glance.

“So, what do you want? Do you want to break up?” he asked, feeling a bit numb. 

“I don’t know Cal… perhaps not break up. Like I said... I do love you. I just need some space to think. Perhaps go back home for a couple of days...”

“Can’t you think here… with me?” he tried to convince her.

“No, silly… if you’re here I can only think about kissing you…”

“Yeah, then I think you should stay… “ he huffed, but he added. “Look, I know it’s a lot to take in, and I can’t force you to stay… I just wish you would trust that I love you and that I need you and that we will figure out the rest. But I can’t promise you I can give you a normal life in the long run, so if that’s what you really want, I guess it’s better you let me know sooner than later…” he said, now feeling really cold inside. 

“I’m sorry Cal… I just don’t know what I want. I guess I just need a bit of alone time to let it sink in and think about all the scenarios…”

“I’m just afraid you’ll overthink it…” 

“I won’t… and you have to trust that I love you…” she said and tried to kiss him, but he turned away.

“Yeah, that’s a bit difficult right now…” he sulked. 

“Cal, please… You said yourself that this is a lot to take in… don’t do this…”

“It’s you who are doing it…” he said. 

“Please, if you really love me, you’ll give me some time to think, and you’ll trust that I’ll make the right decision… I already think I know what it is, I just need to be sure, ok? I want to be yours completely, without reservations or what ifs…”

“Yeah, it’s not like I can change your mind anyway… I’ll drop you off in Smallville whenever you’re ready…” he said, but he wasn’t happy. She could tell. 

*

“Did you know I almost left Clark standing at the altar?” Lois asked, smiling down into her cup of tea. She had come by Viola’s house the day before New Years Eve. She didn’t want to interfere at first, but she also couldn’t stand the way Cal was hurting right now. And although she understood that he was sad and a bit disappointed in Viola, she also thought she could understand what she went through. Even if Cal doubted that Viola loved him - if she did, he reasoned, what was there to think about - Lois knew it wasn’t that simple. After all, she had been there. She didn’t want to try to talk Viola into getting back with Cal, but sharing a bit of life experience of your own never hurt, right? 

“What?”

“Yeah… the first time we tried to get married… I got cold feet the day before. At that time he wasn’t Superman yet, but he helped out as the Blur. When I first found out about him, I thought it was cool actually. There were some ups and downs in the beginning, before I found my role as being a superhero’s girlfriend. But then, I supported it and I loved being a part of it… You have to understand though; we were older than you are, and I was already living a crazy life as a reporter… But, anyway. When the wedding came closer, I suddenly realized his destiny was so much greater than mine, and I got this fear that I would always stand in his way… That I would stop him from fulfilling it somehow…” Lois made a pause and thought for a while about how much she was going to tell Viola.

“So what happened?” Viola asked curiously.

“I read his vows actually… and I talked to Chloe about it. She made me realize he needed me to be able to do what he does… and she was right. I don’t think he would have been able to do this for so many years if he hadn’t had a family to come home to. He would have ended up bitter and lonely, overworked and stressed out. And that’s not a good place to be if you have to make life and death decisions every day…” 

“I can see that… but what about you? Do you ever wish you had a normal life? I mean, I don’t want to sound like a total ego trip here, but I can’t help thinking about if that is a life I want to live. If I could even do it… give him the support he would need…” Viola said quietly. She felt ashamed and egocentric, but she knew she had to talk to someone about it. And Lois was right about one thing, nobody else in the world would be able to understand the situation better than her.

“First of all, we don’t even know if this life is what destiny has waiting for Cal. We always made it clear that we don’t want to force this lifestyle on the kids. I mean, some people would say it’s their responsibility to help, having superpowers and all, but that’s like saying all big and strong people have to become firefighters or something. I genuinely believe it’s a decision they have to make for themselves. And if they have partners, perhaps even together with them. And it’s not all or nothing either. Not all the members of the League work equally much. Some do it almost full time, and some pitch in when they are needed. Some drop out and come back again later, or they don’t. Nobody ever questions it. Again, it’s like the analogy with firefighters or doctors. Sure, they could save more lives if they worked 24/7, but that would only work short term. They are only human, after all. Or, well... You know what I mean… If they burn out, they can’t save anyone, and if they get too stressed out, they could make dangerous mistakes. It took Clark a while to figure that balance out, and I think it will be easier for Cal and Ellen since they have grown up seeing it happen both to their father and to others with their own eyes.

Secondly, it wouldn’t be the same for Cal as it has been for Clark. Clark has always been alone as Superman, but things are becoming easier as more members are joining the League. Cal would still have Clark and he would have Ellen. They would be three to divide the job between them, apart from all the other members of the team.

But let’s say really Cal chooses to become the same kind of superhero his dad is… Sure, it is a hard life sometimes. I won’t lie to you Viola. There are times when I wish we had a simpler life. Like when my kids end up getting hurt… you can’t imagine what it has been like seeing Cal both angry and sad that he couldn’t tell you about himself. Like when you broke up last summer. He was devastated… He hardly spoke with us for months. Locked himself up in the Fortress for training and refused to come home to even visit.” Lois made a brief pause to let Viola wipe the tears away from her face, and took a bite of her cookie before she continued. 

“But I also have to tell you that it’s an amazing life. I wake up every day knowing I make a difference. Not only for those close to me, but for the world. And I have seen things, and met people others would only dream of… But most of all, I love my husband very much, and nothing would make me want to trade a minute of our lives together. He might have a dangerous and demanding job, but first and foremost, he is an amazing person, a loving husband and a caring father to my children. I couldn’t wish for more… But Viola, I don’t blame you for having doubts. It took me years to get to this place. I wasn’t always this certain, trust me…” she ended, giving Viola a comforting pat on the arm.

“Thanks for saying that… I feel terrible for doing this to him… I just… I have to be sure, you know? I feel like if I accept this now, there’s no way back. I mean, I know we are young and a lot of things can happen. I don’t even know if he’ll still love me in five years. But I can’t just wake up one day and say ‘Oh, I don’t think I can accept this superhero thing…’ Do you understand, or is it completely stupid?” 

“I understand what you mean… I’m not sure you are right, though. But I can see how you feel that way now. And I think you actually show great maturity and responsibility that you take this seriously. Someone who loved him less might shrug and think that it could be cool for a while, and then they would see, so to speak…” Lois smiled.

“Thank you… That’s exactly it. You know, I love him so much… I can’t even imagine being without him in one way. But I’m just so scared. Everything got so serious all of a sudden, and then this whole other dimension was added and I just had to get away and think. When I’m around him, I can’t really think straight. He still kind of dazzles me a bit…” she grinned apologetically at Lois, like if it wasn’t something she wanted his mother to know.

“Sweetie… I don’t blame you. I know what you mean. I can’t say it was always like that for Clark and me. We started out as friends and he kind of grew on me. But since I really saw him for who he is… I can relate. He can still make me see stars after all these years.” Lois smiled knowingly at the younger woman.

“Is Cal very disappointed in me?” Viola asked, tears starting to pool in her eyes again.

“No, I wouldn’t say that… a little perhaps. But you have to understand, he has had his whole life to get used to this idea. Even if he understands that it’s a shock to you, I think he has a hard time really relating. And he probably thinks you jump too far ahead, since he hasn’t even made up his mind about the superhero thing yet. I know it is tough for him too to feel this pressure. In one way, he wants to do it, but in another way, he hates that there are these expectations on him. Sometimes, he wishes too that he was just a normal kid…” Lois explained, and when she saw the expression on Viola’s face, she added “But don’t worry. He’ll understand in time. I don’t want you to rush back because you feel sorry for him. Take your time to make your decision, nobody will blame you either way. But try to also consider what you just said yourself… this isn’t a life and death decision at this point. You  _ are _ still young, after all…” 

*

Viola lay awake for hours that night thinking about everything Lois had said. She knew that she loved Cal. Why wasn’t that enough? But somehow, she was still so scared… And everything was still so weird, with Leo in the hospital and all. Perhaps if she spent New Years Eve with Holly and the others to get some perspective, it would all become clearer? She couldn’t tell Holly, of course, but they were in a similar situation in one way. Holly also knew that she loved Leo, but she was scared about what a future with him would mean. Even if Holly was freaking out for all the wrong reasons when it came to Leo, Viola could still relate...

###  *

The clock was closing in on midnight on New Years Eve when Alex heard his phone beep. They were just about to take a break from the game and have some drinks to cheer in the new year at the gaming convention. His heart skipped a beat when he saw the text was from Ellen. They hadn’t had much contact since the day after the Christmas party, a couple of texts to wish each other Happy Holidays but nothing else. She already knew he was going to spend New Year’s at the convention since she had tried to invite him to their party weeks ago. Now, she probably just wanted to wish him a happy new year, he figured. But when he opened the message he got a surprise.

_ Hey, I wonder if you would meet me in the lobby of the hotel in ten minutes? Or are you in the middle of something? I just want to wish you a Happy New Year in person, and I could really use a friend right now… _

Alex thought about this for a minute. Part of him was scared of seeing Ellen, and he couldn’t believe she would leave their party and come all the way to the convention just to say hi. Had something happened? It almost sounded like that from the text… He couldn’t really turn her down. He had promised to be her friend, after all.

_ Ok, I’ll be right up…  _ He wrote and felt his heart starting to pound in his chest. He paused his game and put his phone in his pocket.

“Where are you going?” Liz asked him when she saw him make his way towards the door.

“Oh, I...eeh... I just need a bit of air. I’ll be right back” he lied.

“Just hurry up, I was planning on kissing you at midnight, you know…” she said flirtily.

“I don’t know if that’s such a good idea Liz, we’re here to play, remember?” he said, but internally he swore. Why couldn’t she just leave him alone? How many times did he have to turn the woman down before she could take the hint? He made his way up the stairs to the lobby, and he spotted Ellen at once. She looked stunning in a tight, black dress with a little bolero that sparkled in gold over it. Her hair, except for her bangs, was tied up in a bun at the top of her head and had a golden hair band in it. She wore more makeup than Alex had ever seen her with, and her sooty black eyes would have made her look almost a bit dangerous, if it hadn’t been for the fact that tears were pooling in them.

“Hey, Ellen… what happened? Why aren’t you at the party?” he came up to her and gave her a hug, but he pulled away a bit too quickly, like it burned. Which it sort of did… 

She wiped her tears away and tried to put on a brave smile.

“Hi…” she said in a small voice. “I’m sorry for barging in on you like this… I just… I don’t know… I just wanted to see you. Wish you a happy new year…”

“Did you come all the way here just because of that? What about your party?” Alex asked.

“Eh… well, the party was kind of cancelled… I went with mom and dad to a fundraiser my aunt and uncle are arranging instead, and when I realized it was just around the corner from here, I thought I might pop by…” she lied. Or half lied anyway. The fundraiser had been across town, but it only took Ellen seconds to speed over.

“Oh… where are the others then?” Alex asked, confused. He couldn’t really imagine what had made them cancel their party.

“Sorry, I didn’t want to dump this on you right now… But last week was like the worst week ever. Leo and Cal were in an accident… I don’t want to talk about it right now, but Leo got hurt - he’s ok though, but he is still in the hospital - and Cal’s with him right now because he feels responsible, although it wasn’t really his fault… And he broke up with Viola… or I don’t know. They took some kind of stupid time out. Well, if I just say that everyone is miserable, it about sums it up…”

“Oh, jeez, Ellen… I wish you would have called me… what can I do for you guys?” Alex said, taking her hand.

“Nothing, at the moment… except… I was kinda hoping you wouldn’t mind just holding me for a bit. And maybe if you give me a little kiss when the clock strikes twelve that could change my luck?” she smiled shyly at him while some more tears trickled down her cheeks.

“You know that’s just a superstition, right?” Alex smiled back, but internally he was panicking. He wanted to be there for her, but he didn’t know if he could do it. How would they be able to be friends if they kept kissing whenever possible? 

“Yeah, but right now, I’ll do anything to just pretend for a bit…”

“I really want to be here for you Ellen, but I don’t know if it’s such a good idea to kiss you… we’re supposed to be friends, remember?” he said softly, wiping the tears away from her cheek with his hand.

“I know Alex. And I’m not expecting anything more… But that’s actually what friends do when the clock strikes you know… Would you say no if it was Katie standing here?” Ellen asked and Alex knew she had him cornered. He had said he wanted to be friends, but the fact was that it was going to be hard to treat her like any other friend when he had these strong feelings for her. But he couldn’t turn her down without giving away that he was afraid. And he didn’t really want to either. The way she looked so sad just made him want to pull her into his arms and hold her forever. He was curious about what had happened over Christmas to cause this mess, but he guessed she would tell him eventually. He could understand that this wasn’t a good time. 

“Come here…” he said and wrapped his arms around her. Ellen hugged him back and they stood like that for several minutes, in a tight embrace, both of them forgetting the reality for just a little while. Ellen felt happy for the first time in days where she was standing with her face buried in his shoulder, just indulging in his sweet scent and listening to his heart pound just a little bit faster than normal. She was ripped from his comforting embrace by the sound of people outside starting to count down the seconds until midnight. She lifted her head up and looked into his wonderful golden brown eyes.

“Please? Just this once… next year, I promise to be a good girl… I just really need you right now…” she whispered and then she tilted her head a little bit and pressed her lips against his. She felt a bit bad, because she knew it was kind of emotional blackmail to cry all over him and plead with him to kiss her. But she really needed to forget all about the mess at home and just pretend that life was good, and she really needed Alex. She was hoping so badly that he might, just might, change his mind about their status. 

Alex knew he was screwed the moment her lips met his. He could have given her just a peck and said “happy new year” but she was like a magnet. He couldn’t have pulled away if his life depended on it. It was like if his IQ dropped a hundred points the instant he felt the warm, tingling feeling from her soft lips and his brain got the brilliant idea to just take the opportunity and go with it. She knew they were only going to be friends, right? It wasn’t as if he was deceiving her by responding to her kiss. He had made it clear from the start, and if she wanted to torture herself why not just make the most of it?  _ Stupid brain…  _

Since Ellen had made up her mind and Alex had lost his, they stayed like that for several minutes, locked in a deep, passionate kiss that never seemed to end. It was actually Alex who had started tentatively swiping his tongue against her lips, while he pushed her back against the wall, holding her flush against him. She instantly answered his passion and wrapped one of her legs around his, twisting her hands into his hair to pull him even closer to her lips. The kiss just became hungrier, wilder, deeper. Their hands were everywhere and their bodies were pressed so tightly against each other that there wasn’t an inch of space anywhere between them. At long last, they broke apart, gasping for air. Out of the corner of his eye, Alex saw the back of Liz, running down the stairs…  _ Crap… _

“I’m sorry… I guess I wouldn’t have done that if it had been Katie, huh…?” he smiled apologetically at Ellen, but she just looked at him, dead serious.

“Are you sure you don’t want this Alex? We could do this every day, you know…” she whispered with an unsteady voice.

He put his forehead against hers, still holding her in his arms, and closed his eyes. A million things went through his mind. He wanted this, of course he did. Wanted her. But he couldn’t. Wouldn’t. He thought about his dad again and about the promise he had made himself. Right now, in his dazzled state, it seemed stupid, it really did. But he knew he would regret it later if he said yes now. This was not how it should happen if it should. He needed it to be a conscious decision if he was ever going to start something with Ellen, not a spur of the moment thing, because he couldn’t resist her. 

“I do want it, but I can’t. I’m sorry Ellen. I really am… “ he said simply. He had no better explanation now than the last time. 

“It’s ok… I can’t say I understand you, but I’ll respect your decision. That’s what friends do, right?”

“Thank you… it means a lot to me. I really don’t want to lose you… And I hope I can help you through this tough time. I’m sure everything will work out for the best, right? I mean, Leo’s going to be ok? And Cal and Vi really love each other, they will work it out, right?”

“Yeah, but as you just made perfectly clear, sometimes love is not enough…” she muttered. 

*

Liz didn’t say a word when Alex got back down to the game, instead she was treating him like he didn’t exist at all, but internally she was fuming. She didn’t know if he had noticed that she had caught them kissing, but she thought not. They had both seemed completely lost in each other. She wondered if they were secretly seeing each other, or if she was the one on the receiving end of his no-girlfriend-policy-rubbish now. Liz felt her heart break. Whatever the situation between Ellen and Alex, it was at least clear why he had been rejecting her and she hated him for it. Almost as much as she hated that smug bitch Ellen. Hated her perfect body, her pretty face, her big, blue eyes, her wide stupid smile, hated the way she was always laughing and the way she just couldn’t even really be kind enough to be stupid. She was actually witty and quite smart, even though she might not share Alex’s passion for science and computer tech… It was just so typical.  _ God, she’s going to pay for stealing him, the bitch…  _ Liz thought as she hammered away at her keyboard.

*

Ellen didn’t feel like going back to the fundraiser, instead she went to see Viola, who was supposed to be with Holly and their friends at the dorm room party. When she came in, the party was really going wild, but neither Viola nor Holly seemed to be around. Ellen went up to their room, and she found them talking, sitting on Holly’s bed.

“Ellen… come in. Aren’t you supposed to be at that fundraiser?” Viola asked.

“It wasn’t that much fun… so I ambushed Alex at the convention instead…” she said, and tears started streaming down her face.

“Hey, what happened?” Viola asked, although she had a pretty good idea.

“Oh, the usual… we kissed, and it was amazing, and then he told me his stupid reasons for why we can’t be together…” she sobbed into Viola’s shoulder. 

“So, you and Alex? I didn’t know anything had even happened between you…” Holly said, a bit surprised and ashamed. She guessed she had been too wrapped up in her own problems lately to realize Ellen was hurting.

“No, nothing really has... I mean, I’m just completely in love with him, and we kissed twice… and he says he loves me too, but he doesn’t want to be in a relationship because it might limit him somehow. I don’t know, all I hear when he talks about it is blah blah blah, stupid, stupid stupid…” she sulked. 

Both Viola and Holly looked down on their feet. When someone did that to their friend, it really did seem both stupid and a bit egocentric. Ellen was obviously really hurting because of Alex’s fear of commitment, and neither of the girls could actually believe it would ever limit Alex in any way to be together with Ellen. 

“I mean, people who love each other should be together right? It’s not really that difficult… even if everything isn’t perfect about the circumstances or the other person… why is it worse to risk you heart than to guarantee it’s going to break? I just don’t get it…” she stared at her friends, who both shuffled a bit uncomfortably where they stood. 

“I guess you’re right… “ Viola sighed… “I’m being a coward, running from my problems with Cal, right?” she said, and Ellen just raised her eyebrows as if she wanted to say “Duh…”

“And what about you Holly? Imagine Leo had actually died last week… isn’t there anything you would wish you had told him? I know for a fact you were crying by his bed in the hospital… Even though I still don’t know how you knew...” Ellen crossed her arms in front of her and Holly blushed lightly.

“I know… I’m just so scared Ellen… what if it doesn’t work out…? What if he can’t change?” she started, but Ellen interrupted her.

“That’s an awful lot of “what ifs…” you know… What if it does work out? What if you can be with him and still do everything else that you want to do?” 

“Yeah, I guess you are right about me too… When I hear Alex does it to you, it sounds awfully dumb…”

“Ok, so I’ll drive you two cowards to the hospital right now, no backing out…” Ellen stated and grabbed her purse again without even waiting for an answer.

*

Cal was playing cards with Leo, sitting at his bedside. He had forced Oliver and Chloe to go to the fundraiser and promised to throw their son a private New Year’s party in the hospital. Leo had tried to persuade them to release him at first, as he was really feeling well now, but they wanted to keep him at least one more night for observation. As neither Cal nor Leo really felt like celebrating anyway, they had given in without too much fuss. They had talked a bit more about the events and what to do now. Leo was still surprised to hear that Holly had been there when he was unconscious, but he said he didn’t want to get his hopes up.

“She probably just felt bad about hurting me when I almost died… It doesn’t mean anything…” he said for the twentieth time, when they suddenly heard arguments out in the corridor. 

“I know it’s past visiting hours, but it’s New Years Eve, and my cousin is in there… come on, be a doll and just let us in for a minute…”

“Us?” Cal and Leo looked at each other for a second, confused, before Ellen stepped inside, Holly and Viola tagging along behind.

“Happy New Year, guys…” Ellen said, smiling. She was actually feeling a bit happy herself. Not that her own love life seemed all that promising, but at least she hoped to be able to fix things for her brother and her cousin. 

Viola and Holly stood for a second in a bit of an embarrassed silence, but then Viola ran into the room and flung herself in Cal’s arms.

“I’m sorry. I was an idiot… I don’t really need to think, I know that I love you and that’s all that matters, right? Can you ever forgive me for doubting us?” she pleaded, but he just kissed her quiet before she could go on.

“Great, you two. Out in the corridor and talk.” Ellen commanded, and gave Holly a challenging look, before she followed the other two out of the room and closed the door. 

*

“So, did you want to talk or something?” Leo asked when Holly just stood there, shuffling a bit uncomfortably.

“Yeah… I wanted to ask you something…” she said, suddenly feeling a bit insecure. What if she was too late?

“Ok…I’m all ears…”

“I wondered… when you get out of here I mean, if you would go out with me?”

“Like on a date?” Leo raised his eyebrows.

“Yeah. Or dates. I want to try the relationship thing if you’ll still have me…” she said shyly.

“Really?” he said, surprised. 

“Yes. I’m sorry I was so hard on you Leo. It was my own fears and worries and I was kind of unfair projecting them on you… I can’t say I’m not still a bit scared, but I’ve never been in a real relationship before. And I never meant to fall in love with you, it just happened and I freaked out…”

“You’re in love with me?” he asked, simply.

“Yes, isn’t that obvious…?” she snapped, feeling a bit frustrated that he kept her hanging like this. “Look, if you don’t want this, can you just please say so before I make even more of a fool out of myself…” 

“No, I’m sorry. I want this. You. I mean, I want to go out with you Holly. I’m in love with you too…” he gave her a smile and she exhaled heavily with relief.

“Good, this could have gotten awkward…” she said and he burst out laughing. 

“I think this is where you’re supposed to come over here and kiss me or something... “ he suggested, and she did.

They lay kissing on his hospital bed for a long while, before she felt the need to bring something else up.

“I just need you to promise me you won’t let me end up like my sister Leo… Please, promise me that if I ever got pregnant you would make an equal contribution and let me finish my education…”

“I give you my word. First of all, we’ll make sure you don’t get pregnant… and should there be any accidents happening I can guarantee you there will be money enough to pay for your education…” he said. She tried to interrupt, but he held up a hand and continued. “I will tell you how I can make that promise in a minute, but first I want to tell you something else. I did a lot of thinking after you yelled at me… and you were right about a couple of things. I haven’t acted all that responsibly, and it will change… I will put more of an effort into my education. Actually, I have even thought about changing my major. The reason I’ve been slacking a bit is because I’m not all that interested in business school to be honest. It was kind of expected of me that I go, but now I’m thinking I can decide my own future, right?”

“Of course… do you know what you want to do?” she asked curiously.

“Not yet, I have a couple of ideas… and I might not give up the business thing completely, I just want to widen my horizons a bit. But whatever it will be, I will be more serious about it. I guess I have really acted like a spoiled brat, but that’s because I kind of am one. But I promise you it will change. I will really try to change. I hope you won’t hate me for lying to you, but it wasn’t really my choice... You see, my parents cut me off, temporarily, so I would learn to handle money like a normal person, and you have to cut me some slack because it’s only been a couple of months. I thought it was going ok, but you, and Cal and Ellen too, pointed out I wasn’t doing such a great job…”

“I don’t really understand… what do you mean they cut you off?”

“I mean, and please don’t be mad, that I actually have more money than I told you… Let’s just say that if you  _ would _ get pregnant, I could pay for any nanny you’d want without touching a penny from your college funds…” he grinned apologetically. “And the reason I’ve been slacking at business school was maybe that I wasn’t so worried about getting a position at a company, because my family kind of owns one… and my dad expects me and Jonathan to take over it one day…”

Holly was just about to ask him what business his family was in when a nurse knocked on the door.

“I think that’s enough for tonight, Mr Queen… you have to get some sleep now.”

“Ok, just give us five more minutes to say goodbye. We were kind of in the middle of something…” Leo waved her away and she closed the door behind her.

“Mr Queen…?” Holly gaped and Leo just shrugged apologetically and tried to look cute.

“Leonard Gabriel Sullivan-Queen is my full name. Sorry,I guess I should have told you sooner…”

“And you expect me to just smile and be happy?” Holly asked, incredulously…

“Well, you  _ were _ worried about the money…”

“It wasn’t like that Leo… you know that. And it’s not like I’m looking for someone to support me. I just want to be able to support myself. So I guess I won’t have to worry about that anymore, but now I’m just supposed to be ok with ending up in the tabloids instead? You’re from a different universe than me for god’s sake…” she hid her face in her hands and shook her head in exasperation.

“Relax, at the moment, nobody in Metropolis knows who I am anyway except for my roomies and Viola…”

“Yeah, but when they find out…”

“Oh, come on… you asked me out, no backsies… We’ll worry about that later.” Leo sighed, and turned to Cal, Viola and Ellen, who had just entered the room after being threatened to be thrown out by the nurse.

“Sooo… what’s up here?” Ellen asked.

“He just dropped the Q-bomb on me…” Holly huffed.

“Oh, that…” Ellen nodded in understanding. “But don’t worry Holly, it’s not as bad as you would think at first. The whole family are actually great…” 

“I don’t know… I need to think about this…” Holly said, feeling extremely shocked and confused. She suddenly felt like she didn’t know Leo at all. She had to think through all his actions in a whole different light.

“Nope, no more chickening out tonight…” Ellen snapped and crossed her arms. “If you promised him a date, he’ll get one. And then you can think about it later. I’ve had enough of cowards who run away from their feelings because of blah blah stupid reasons for today…”

Cal and Leo looked curiously at the girls, and Viola mouthed  _ Alex again _ behind Ellen’s back, and they both nodded knowingly.

“Oh my god… It was you… wasn’t it? My sister….” Holly exclaimed and clasped her hands to her mouth.

Her sister had come home over Christmas with an extremely happy surprise. Somehow, she had received a scholarship to finish her studies without even knowing she had applied for it. When she had called and asked, she was told that some old professor of hers had found her assignments so promising and been so disappointed when she heard that she had dropped out due to financial difficulties that she had sent in the application for her. Holly had thought it sounded too good to be true, but had absolutely no idea for some other explanation.

Leo tried to look innocent, but Holly saw right through him…

“So you what? You thought I would go out with you if you paid for her education?” she huffed.

“It’s not like I’m paying for it exactly. There is a fund...my family may have made an extra donation, but it’s not like that’s anything unusual, my dad didn’t even ask twice why when I suggested it. And then I just suggested her as a worthy candidate, but she was evaluated against others, I swear. It wasn’t my decision… and I wasn’t going to tell you. I just wanted to help out. And maybe I hoped that if things worked out for your sister you might reconsider your non-dating policy… But I would have done it anyway, I promise. I just thought the story was really sad.” 

Holly didn’t know if she should kiss him or smack him in the head in that moment. It was a really nice thing to do, of course. And thoughtful… but she couldn’t help but feel that he had tried to buy his way into her heart somehow. And that was definitely cheating. But then again, she had decided to go out with him before she knew about that, so it wasn’t as if she had been tricked. She decided to go with the kiss…

“Ok, so you’re forgiven for that. It was actually really cute… But don’t you dare try anything like that again. Now I’m on to you…” she narrowed her eyes, but still gave him another soft kiss on the lips before it was time to go home and think about this. Sleeping wasn’t going to be an option tonight…

*

“I kind of feel bad about leaving Holly alone in the dorm…” Viola said when they got back home to the apartment. “Maybe I should have stayed with her…?” 

“She’ll be ok… And you staying there was not an option tonight. You owe me so much makeup sex you won’t get to sleep at all for the next seventy two hours. I didn’t even get to kiss you at midnight, you know…” Cal said and started kissing her passionately before they had even made it into the bedroom.

“Yeah, but I still have like a million questions for you… you still haven’t even told me all about your powers…” she giggled, but didn’t really complain when he started tearing her clothes off. 

“It’ll have to wait… I can’t…” he grunted against her neck, lifting her off the ground and starting to carry her towards the bedroom, but he didn’t make it all the way before he felt an irresistible urge to push her up against the wall in the kitchen and kiss her again.

“Jeez, get a room…” Ellen, who just came out for a glass of water huffed.

“We have a room…” Cal said, but kept making out with his girlfriend.

“So, would you mind using it? I don’t need to see  _ that _ … And Ollie and Chloe will be staying here tonight too, may I remind you…” she shook her head and went back into her bedroom. 

“Ok, I’m not getting caught by your aunt and uncle… we’d better get into the bedroom Cal…” Viola giggled a bit again and he swept her up and sped her away. 

“Wooohaaa… still not really used to that…” she gasped.

“Yeah, but I’ve been thinking… I’ve thought of a way to make it really useful to you…” he said, with a mischievous grin and removed the rest of her clothes in a millisecond.

“What, undress me super speed…? Creative…” she half sighed, half laughed.

“No, I just had to get you naked to try it out… You see, I can also move my tongue really quickly…” he whispered huskily into her ear after he had put her down on the bed. She started to say something, but he hushed her to be quiet and kissed her really passionately instead. She was already a bit turned on by their playful making out, but now she felt the excitement grow in her lower belly when she thought of what he might have in mind for her. He lifted her off the bed as if she weighed nothing at all, and held her in his arms while he started trailing kisses down her whole body. She started to twitch and wiggle from excitement under his lips, but he just kept kissing her everywhere but where she wanted. And she knew he knew what she wanted, it wasn’t like it was their first time together…He was just being a tease and she whimpered a bit and gave him a begging stare. He finally took mercy on her and started working on her nipples first, and she moaned loudly with pleasure and excitement while he massaged her lush breasts with his soft lips. That wasn’t what he had in mind though, and he trailed his kisses further down, to her thighs and up between her legs. She was so turned on now, and she only wanted him inside, so she started begging, but he still had other plans. He finally reached her wet center with his lips, and started kissing her, gently at first, but then, out of nowhere, he took her by surprise by showing her just exactly how quickly he could move his tongue. It was like nothing she had ever felt before, and an incredible rush of pleasure spread in waves through her whole body as she exploded in an earth shattering climax under him.

“Oh my god…” she panted… “And you waited all this time to do that…?”

“Yeah, I didn’t want to spoil you from the start… but that was almost too easy…” he said, satisfied with himself.

She pushed him down on the bed and straddled him before she bent down to capture his lips in a slow, sweet, kiss that quickly grew more passionate. She had intended to return his favor but she was still really turned on and she grew impatient, so instead, she took his erection in her hand and sank down onto him until he was secure, deep inside her body. First, she was teasing him a bit back by just staying there, with him inside, and kissing him deeply without moving, but when she felt him starting to twitch impatiently under her, she started riding him slowly, again feeling her body shudder as the pleasure was building up once more. No matter how many times they made love, she just couldn’t get used to the amazing feeling of being so completely filled up by him. She had wanted it to last longer, and be slow and sweet, but she had no patience; the recent mega orgasm notwithstanding, and she started to pick up the pace a bit to climb quicker towards the sweet release again, but he apparently had other plans. He pulled her down towards him in a kiss and she suddenly felt her legs lifting from the bed as he floated them a couple of inches off the mattress and turned them around in the air, without slipping out of her. Then he lowered them carefully down on to the bed again, and held her hands above her head as he started to move inside her, like if nothing special had occurred at all. She was gasping in surprise at first, but her foggy brain was still too much focused on reaching climax to really analyze what had just happened, and she wrapped her legs around his back instead and met his thrusts eagerly between loud moans, begging loudly for him to take her harder and faster. She knew he would go crazy and lose it if she started to talk like that, and sure enough, she felt him starting to lose control over his rhythm just at the same time as she felt the familiar tingling sensation starting to spread through her body again when she climaxed. She felt him twitch and push deep before he threw his head back and groaned as he emptied himself inside of her. 

They lay panting together for a couple of minutes; he was still inside her, resting on her body, but she hardly felt his weight. She suspected that he held himself up deliberately on…nothing, and she had to give herself a mental shake again. This was too weird.

“Ok, I did  _ not _ know you could do that…” she panted, still out of breath and a tiny bit shocked.

“Yeah, neither did I actually… I never tried before, for obvious reasons…” Cal chuckled at her and turned them around again to lay on their sides. 

“But do you… like fly…?” she asked, eyes wide.

“Nope, not really. I can defy gravity for a little while and sort of float… but I haven’t really mastered it yet so I never dared to try to take off completely. But as a matter of fact, it was you who did it to me…” he smiled.

“Me? How…?” she raised her eyebrows.

“Well, the powers are very much connected to our emotions and hormones in the beginning, before we learn to control them. And it seems the floating connects to happiness, or maybe love, I don’t know. But the first time it happened to me was when I floated in my sleep, the night after we kissed for the first time…”

“Wow, that’s amazing... “

“Yeah, tell that to my bed… it was completely wrecked… You can imagine how much Ellen laughed at me when I came crashing down the next morning…”

“Oh god, that’s hilarious…” Viola laughed a bit and then she shook her head “Your life is so weird…” then she came to think about something. “So, was this what stopped you from staying the night with me in the beginning…? I somehow couldn’t help noticing that your bracelet always had the blue pearl when you did, but I never managed to figure out why… Now I know it’s blue k, right? Takes away your powers? But I still don’t really get it… Why not just keep it on…? And lately, you didn’t have it…?”

“You’re right… It was mostly because of the floating. I had no control over it when I slept before… After the two months I spent at the Fortress during the summer, I learned to control it and now it doesn’t happen like that anymore.”

“So, why couldn’t you just keep the bracelet on and stay at my place...?”

“Well, Emil isn’t sure how it affects us to be exposed to it for too long, so my parents didn’t want me to do it on a regular basis. Also, dad wants us to primarily learn how to control our powers and not hide behind the blue k”

“Oh, was that why he took you bracelet away after the Christmas formal back in High School? I never managed to figure out what the heck happened there…” Viola said curiously. 

“Well… eeh… you’re going to laugh at me for real if I answer that question. Or freak out again…Save it for tomorrow?” Cal grinned a bit sheepishly.

“Nuhu, no way... tell me.”

“Ok. You know what I told you about the hormones and the floating? There’s another power that is closely related to...sex. Which I also developed thanks to you…”

“Yeah?”

“Remember that first time we were really alone and we made out in your bed and I kind of jumped away like if I was burnt when you tried to undress me?” he asked.

“Yep…” she said, and waited enthusiastically to finally understand his craziness.

“Well, it wasn’t me being prude… I almost set your bedroom on fire accidentally when I developed heat vision in that exact moment.”

“Bloody hell…!” Viola gaped. She had a hard time deciding if she should laugh or freak out. He shot fire from his eyes too…?

“But I don’t understand… “ she finally said, trying to focus on some part of it she could wrap her head around “...I mean, we didn’t even get that far. And you’ve had girlfriends before, right? I mean, don’t tell me you had never even done more than kiss before?”

“Yeah, but it’s still different with you. No other girl ever made me float either. Perhaps it’s a combination of love and desire, I don’t know. But I have sure as hell never wanted anyone so badly before as I want you…” 

“Ooh, sweet. You’re just trying to flatter me to make me forgive you for almost setting me on fire…” she smirked. 

“I would never have set you on fire baby… perhaps your roof, though….” he said and tried to kiss her to make her forget about the rest of the story, but she saw through him.

“Nuhu… you’re not finished with the explanation… If the bracelet helps you control you powers, why did they take it?”

“Ok, so the thing is… I didn’t actually tell anyone about the heat vision… It was a bit stupid, but I had enough of the questioning after the floating, and I really didn’t feel like talking about what you and I had been doing when it happened at the breakfast table. So I guess you can say I took the easy way out and just used my bracelet instead. Like when we snuck off at the school dance… Since I had turned my powers off so we could make out without any accidents happening, I didn’t hear Ellen scream for me, and she almost got killed. I can tell you my dad wasn’t happy with me… I guess it was kind of a punishment in one way, but also because he wanted me to have some extra motivation to get control over the new powers by making sure I couldn’t cheat my way out of those situations.”

“But you have control over it now, right…?” Viola asked. Not that she was really worried, but still…

“Don’t worry… after the two months I spent at the Fortress over the summer I have complete control over everything. I only use the bracelet now if I’d ever be engaged in competitive sports activities and for training.”

“So, am I getting a little demo of these powers, or what?” 

“Maybe tomorrow. I think we should really try and get some sleep now. It is more day than night…”

“Oh, I thought you weren’t going to let me sleep…” she teased and kissed him.

*

Breakfast the next morning, or more like mid-day, was actually a really merry gathering. They were preparing to go pick Leo up from the hospital and Ellen had been out to get some fresh croissants and smoothies while Cal was making pancakes and coffee.

“Wow, this is some breakfast… You have to be careful, or we’ll be staying over more often…” Chloe said as Cal served them at the table. 

“I know, I’m so terribly spoiled… he always does that…” Viola gave Cal an affectionate grin.

“But maybe you’d prefer some toast today..?” Cal said with a playful smile and raised his eyebrows.

“Ok, I’ll play... I’ll have a toast…” she said, half expecting what would come. And sure enough, Cal picked up a slice of bread and flashed his heat vision on it for a fraction of a second on each side of it before he handed it to Viola. She giggled a bit and said “Show off…” when she saw the heart he had burned into it with their initials, C+V in the middle. 

“Geez, what a sap... it’s lucky I don’t get fat, or all this sweetness would be dangerous..” Ellen said and shook her head at her brother, but she was in fact really happy that the two of them were all right. When she had woken up the day after the silver k incident and found Viola gone and Cal moping she had been terrified that she would lose her best friend again because of him. But when she had called Viola she had promised her she only needed a bit of space, and that she wouldn’t abandon Ellen this time whatever decision she came to regarding her relationship with Cal. It was comforting, but still. It was not the same as having her around on a daily basis. And of course, she also wanted her brother to be happy…

Suddenly, the doorbell rang and Lois and Clark showed up in the kitchen moments later…

“What, you can smell pancakes all the way from Smallville now?” Cal asked amused, when his mother gave him a hopeful glance where he stood, cooking.

“Yeah, that’s my superpower… I need one too, right? Besides, since Chloe and Ollie are heading home today I thought we would pop by and say hi…” Lois said and gave her cousin a kiss on the cheek.

“Hi… I’m back...” Viola said with a small wave and a sheepish grin, trying to put on a face that said  _ Sorry I panicked and left your son in the middle of a crisis, _ without so many words. 

“And we’re happy to see you..” Lois said merrily, and then she pulled Viola into a loving embrace. Viola didn’t know if she had told the others about their little chat, but she somehow didn’t think so, and she was happy they didn’t seem awkward about her little time out.

“Absolutely” Clark agreed. ”Don’t feel bad. I mean, you still have a long way to go before you’re even close to the number of times Lois has bolted on me over the years…” Clark started, but Lois gave him a glare and he rolled his eyes and shut his mouth.

“Yeah, but you never made me breakfast like this Smallville…” Lois said, accusingly, and held Viola’s piece of toast up as evidence.

“Ok, if you prefer that over the pastries you make me pick up for you from that little bakery in Paris…” Clark said innocently, earning him another glare from Lois.

“We’d better finish up breakfast and get ready if you all want to go with us to the hospital to get Leo…” Oliver interrupted when Lois opened her mouth to retort. He had spent too many years with Lois and Clark and he knew this argument could easily last all day if nobody stopped them.

“Do you have any maple syrup?” Lois said as Cal handed her the plate of pancakes.

“Sorry, we’re out…” he said, and Lois turned to Clark with a pout and a very requesting look. 

“I’ll forgive you for all the years of no hearts in my toast….” she said and he rolled his eyes at her, but stepped out on the balcony. 

“Your life is strange…” Viola said with a small shake of her head when he returned with maple syrup less than two minutes later. 

“Yep, but it has some perks” Lois said and poured a generous amount of sirup on her pancakes with a satisfied grin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have been sick all week, and also stressed out about work and the upcoming holidays and everything else, so I never even got around to editing this chapter. Now, I've given up and I'm just posting it as it is... I'll have to go back and fix any spelling mistakes later. 
> 
> Oh, and kudos if you can find the Lois&Clark quote in here :)


	21. Valentine's day disasters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which there's a party, a lot of jealousy and indecent behavior happening and everybody is in a lousy mood at some point. Oh, and what was it in those drinks?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings for this chapter for underage drinking (at least in the US I think?), a minor drug incident and a rather explicit scene between the *** in the middle somewhere.

The big Valentine’s day party at the MetU Campus Pub had been going on for three hours. Ellen and Viola had spent the last two of them drinking like the end of the world was coming, together with some of Viola’s friends who were visiting from England. The table between them was covered with empty shot glasses and everybody around the table were roaring with laughter. On the surface, they were having a blast. Underneath it though, none of the girls were in a particularly good mood. Viola was furious with Cal for being a jealous bastard, and Ellen was depressed because Alex had come to the party with another girl. So they took revenge on the loves of their lives in the best way they could think of. By getting wasted. Which wasn’t necessarily working very well for either of them. The revenge part, that is. Getting wasted was easier…

It had all seemed like a great idea, going to the Valentine’s day party together as a group. Holly, for example, had been enthusiastic. She had still not really adjusted to the whole idea of being in a relationship, and she had felt the pressure of a perfect, romantic Valentine’s day with her new boyfriend becoming a bit too much. Leo was a little disappointed, as he had hoped to take Holly out on something a bit more fancy. Like taking his father’s jet to Star city and showing her around his favourite places. Not that he wanted to show off, he knew she wasn’t really impressed by his money, but he wanted to spoil her. He had surprised himself and everybody around him by finding it really easy to accomodate to the idea of a steady girlfriend, and he wanted nothing else than to make Holly happy. 

“I just don’t understand why Will and Nico are getting out of this…?” Leo had complained to the others. 

“Well, first of all, you know how Nico can be around people he doesn’t know?” Cal said.

“Rude?” Leo suggested with a smirk. 

“Well, there’s that… and evidently he hates Valentines day, which means he would end up burning the decorations, starting at least three different fights and offending the people arranging the party.” Viola had shrugged.

“Will is so fucking whipped… man, he should just have gone without him then.” Leo grumbled.

“Yeah… we all know that’s not happening. And I think they are cute.” Viola declared. 

Cal hadn’t been too happy either at first that he couldn’t take Viola out, but he had agreed it was good that they didn’t leave Ellen alone and dateless. He had also been happy for Vi that some of her old friends from Europe were visiting for a couple of days. That was, until they showed up on their doorstep. It had turned out that two of them were guys. Not that Cal minded Viola having male friends, he wasn’t really the jealous type. Or so he had thought. But both of them were really good looking, and cool, in a bad boy sort of way that made Cal a bit uneasy. And naturally, they had that british accent that tended to melt girls’ hearts. Now, that was nothing that impressed Viola of course, but it made Cal feel a bit left out. Especially when they had started sharing memories and talking about crazy adventures they had been on together with Viola. Somewhere around the fifth “Oh, oh, oh… do you remember when…?” he had huffed a bit and left them alone in the living room. Not only was it clear that they all went way back, one of the guys also made no secret out of the fact that he and Viola had been an item at some point and that he regretted ever letting her go. 

“Hey, are you checking out my girlfriend, buddy? “ Cal had said, half joking but half deadly serious when Adam, one of the bad boys, had called her gorgeous and complimented her about filling out in all the right places since the last time they met.

“Sorry dude, I’ll try to keep my hands to myself, but I sure hope you know to appreciate this amazing woman the way she deserves…” he had answered, not seeming insulted at all, but also not ashamed of the way he had been ogling her. 

Viola, on the other hand, had been very ashamed. Of Cal’s behaviour. She tried to tell him they had always had this flirty banter thing going on, but it meant nothing and he should know better than not to trust her…

“Oh, I trust you. That guy, however, I don’t trust at all…” Cal had scoffed and that had been the start of the fight that had led to the group splitting up at the party and Viola getting drunk. And determined to show Cal he couldn’t decide who she was hanging out with. 

Cal was almost equally furious at Ellen. Not only had she taken Viola’s side and told him he overreacted, but then she had decided to turn on her blue k bracelet and get drunk too when Alex had showed up with an old friend who was visiting from Star City. She had been cold, almost to the point of being rude, when she was introduced to Emma, and then she had excused herself saying that Viola’s friends had given her a challenge she couldn’t resist and started drinking. What a hypocrite! She accused him of being a jealous prick when a guy obviously flirted with his girlfriend, but she lost it completely because Alex had another friend of the female sex. Because Cal could not see that there seemed to be anything romantic going on at all between Alex and this girl Emma. Sure, she was cute in a nerdy sort of way, and she had walked in holding his arm and she was laughing a lot together with him. But as far as he could tell, it was the kind of relationship Ellen had with Will or Leo, nothing else. 

Alex, over on his side of the bar, was annoyed as hell too. He had really been looking forward to Emma’s visit. Not only had it been too long since he had seen her, but he had actually been eager to introduce her to his new friends. He had talked a lot about Cal, Leo, Ellen, Viola and the others lately and he knew she was really curious about meeting them in person. But none of them had been on their best behavior. True, Leo and Holly were kind of acting normal, but unfortunately, normal for them lately was making out in some corner. Cal was trying to be nice, but Alex noticed he was a bit unfocused and distant. Alex realized almost instantly that he and Viola were mad at each other, and he suspected it was because of her friends visiting from Europe. Alex didn’t form a strong opinion about them at once. They were clearly not the type of people he normally hung out with. In fact, it seemed more like they would rather take a road trip on stolen motorbikes and smash a couple of hotel rooms than sit down and play video games. Not that he was prejudiced against guys with earrings, tattoos and long hair. Not at all. Now, however, he was slowly developing a bit of a dislike against at least one of them though, the one called Eddie. He didn’t know exactly what it was about him, except for the way he was constantly flirting with Ellen. 

Not that guys flirting with Ellen was anything unusual. Like all the time, everywhere they went. He was kind of getting used to it. They had survived six weeks as being friends now, since the last kissing incident at New Years. Sometimes he found it hard to be around her, but at least she hadn’t made any passes at him since then. And as happy as he was that she was obviously respecting his decision only to be friends, just like she promised, a small part of him was a bit disappointed that she seemed to have given up on him so easily. He knew he had no right to feel that way, naturally. It had been his decision, after all. But it only made him firmer in his belief that he had been right about that it was better this way. What if they had started something and she had gotten tired of him and dumped him by now? He would never have survived that… No, friends were better. Even if he got this weird, numb feeling spreading through his limbs when he saw Ellen giggle and flirt with the british bad boy a couple of tables away from them. Ah, that was it, he realized. The reason Eddie the ponytail dork was getting to him. Ellen was flirting back… this was the first time  _ that _ had happened…

Alex’s friend Emma wasn’t exactly in a bad mood, but she was a bit worried about Alex. And a little bit confused as to why her best friend was hanging out with these people…. “Your friends are a bit different than I expected…” she said innocently as she and Alex went to the bar to get some drinks.

“Yeah, I think you caught them on a bad day. I’m sorry about that… Cal and Vi are obviously fighting, and I don’t know what Ellen’s problem is. She is usually really cool… and nice… I have never seen her so rude before. And I have never seen her drunk before either… I just don’t know what’s up with her.” Alex sighed and Emma could see that he was looking more than a bit annoyed. And gloomy. More than a little gloomy too, now that she thought about it.

Emma studied Ellen carefully from a distance. She had already made up her mind about Alex. After all, she had known him since pre school, so even if he didn’t exactly wear his emotions on top of his clothes, she could read him better than anyone by now. And suddenly it all made sense. Why he had been talking so much about these people, for example. He normally didn’t make new real life friends so often, and he certainly didn’t easily let people into his life who didn’t seem to share many of his interests at all. She had asked at some point if there was a girl he was interested in, but he had said they were all just friends. It was easier to deceive someone over a chat, though.

“Let me take a wild guess here…” she smirked a bit at Alex “you’re not particularly happy to see Ellen talking to that biker type either…?” 

“What? Oh.. No… I mean… she can talk to whoever she wants. We’re only friends…” he huffed.

“Yeah, right…” Emma snorted and Alex glared at her.

“Oh, come on. I’ve known you forever Alex… you can’t fool me. Talk to me!” she demanded. He looked a bit sulkily at her, but he knew she wouldn’t give up that easily so he sighed and shrugged before he told her the whole story. Or, most of it anyway.

“But it seems I was right though… We’re better off as friends. She seems to have forgotten about any feelings she might have had for me. And who can blame her. She’s got guys tripping all over themselves to impress her wherever she goes. Like that dork over there… Why would she be interested in someone like me…?”

“Oh, God Alex… you’re such an idiot…” Emma sighed, but their conversation was interrupted by Cal who came over and started talking to them. He was obviously tired of Holly and Leo, and he was determined not to let Viola get to him, so he was sulking too. When they had talked for a couple of minutes Alex excused himself to use the facilities and Emma saw her chance.

“Hey Cal, can I ask you something…?” she said.

“Sure…”

“It’s about your sister… she wasn’t really that friendly towards me to be honest, and I was just wondering…” she started but Cal interrupted her.

“Yeah, I noticed. I’m sorry about her. She’s not like that normally… I don’t know what’s up with all the girls today.” he sighed.

“I know it’s not any of my business, but I was just wondering… Is it about Alex?” she asked bluntly.

“It might be, to tell you the truth… She has no right, obviously, but I think she got a bit jealous…” he gave Emma a sheepish grin.

“So she’s not really into that biker dude she’s flirting with over there…” Emma raised her eyebrows.

“No, Jeez, no… I don’t know how she thinks it will help to make a fool out of herself… but she’s probably a bit drunk.” he shook her head. “She and Vi both…” he muttered.

“Hm…” Emma said thoughtfully. “No, to tell you the truth, I don’t think it’s a good strategy if she’s interested in Alex. She’s only going to push him away… Perhaps we should break up that little party before someone gets hurt? Don’t you think it’s about time you talked to your girlfriend too...?” she gave him a knowing smile. 

“You’re probably right…” Cal sighed again “...and that means there’s nothing between you and Alex, right?” he was asking, just to be sure.

“Nothing other than friendship… he’s like a brother to me, I’ve known him forever…” she said reassuringly. 

At that point, Ellen got up to go to the Ladies room too, and Emma got an idea.

“Tell you what, I’ll have a little chat with your sister… and when we come back, you’ll buy a round of drinks for the table and make peace with your girlfriend. I came here to get to know you guys after all, and it’s kind of hard when everybody is sulking like this…” she smiled at him and left just as Alex got back.

“Your friend sure speaks her mind… she was just scolding me about my fight with Vi…” he said, but his lips were twitching a bit. He knew she was right, of course. Even if he didn’t like that Viola got drunk and was hanging out with a guy who obviously was interested in her, he didn’t exactly make things better by pushing her away like this. And if he was honest, she wasn’t really flirting back either so it was hardly her fault. And it was about time he did something about Ellen before she screwed up her chances with Alex completely. 

*

Ellen was splashing water on her face, trying not to cry. It was fun, in a way, being drunk. But it also made her even more temperamental and emotional than usual. And right now, her whole insides were drowned in a dark and heavy feeling of jealousy. Alex didn’t seem to care at all that she was hanging out with someone else. Viola’s friend, at least, seemed to notice her. Normally, she only hated it when guys came on that strongly to her, but right now, it felt quite good to be a bit wooed. And the guy was hot, with a bit of a dangerous air… and a really charming accent. Six months ago, she might have been somewhat interested… but now, she couldn’t keep her mind off of Alex. Stupid Alex who only wanted to be her stupid friend. And today, he only seemed to have eyes for his little stupid blond friend. Why were all of his girlfriends little blond, petite, cute nerds? That must really be his type… No wonder he only wanted Ellen as a friend, she probably didn’t do it for him at all. She was almost as tall as he was, and there was nothing petite or cute about her. 

Since new year, she had worked hard on being just friends with him, and sometimes it was going quite well. She liked his company, and they had a lot of fun together. She didn’t flirt with him at all, determined to respect his wishes and give him some space. She had hoped that keeping her distance would make him less scared, and perhaps realize he wanted to be with her after all. But it seemed the whole “if you love them let them go” thing had kind of backfired. Now he was here, on Valentine’s day, with another girl instead. Sure, so he had introduced her as an old friend. But you didn’t take any old friend out as your Valentine, right? Why would he take her here anyway? He knew they were going to be here. Was he being mean intentionally? He knew how Ellen felt about him, right…? 

She was fuming with anger and jealousy when Emma stepped in to the ladies and got up to her, where she stood fixing her makeup in front of the mirror. Ellen swallowed down her fury and tried to compose herself. She put on a sickly, sweet smile to hide her state of rage and said “hi” in her most fake friendly voice. Shit, when did she become one of those girls…? And sure enough, Emma didn’t buy it.

“Ok Ellen, please wipe that fake smile off your face, I’m not a Cheerleader… “ Emma huffed, half amused and half angry with Ellen for being such an idiot. 

“What do you…? “ she started, but she knew it was no good… “I’m sorry… I’m not really that kind of girl normally...” she said and let her face fall into a weird expression, somewhere between shame, anger and sadness.

“I didn’t think so, or Alex wouldn’t be in love with you…” 

“What do you mean, Alex is…” she started, but Emma interrupted her.

“Look, I don’t really know you, and maybe it’s none of my business… but I’ve known Alex more or less my whole life, and I hate to see him hurting like this. And from your behavior tonight, I’m thinking it might be mutual…” Emma said, putting an arm on Ellen’s shoulder and looking her straight into the face. 

“So you and Alex…?” Ellen started, not so eager to answer her last insinuation, and Emma shook her head.

“You have nothing to worry about with me, Ellen. We’re just friends…” she said.

“Yeah, but me and Alex are just friends too, you know…” Ellen muttered. 

“Ok, but we are  _ really _ just friends, you know… Not friends who are secretly in love…” she smirked. 

Ellen gave in and shrugged with a small smile. It seemed she had really misjudged the situation with Emma and acted like a jealous bitch. It was kind of embarrassing…

“Look, I’m sorry… I feel really ashamed about tonight… I don’t know what got into me, you know. But it’s just so hard sometimes… You are right about how I feel. And I’ve told him that I love him more than once, and although he claimed he had feelings for me too, he just keeps pulling the friends card on me. I don’t know what he’s so afraid of, if what you say is true…” she sighed.

“Hm, I don’t know why he’s so scared of commitment either… I’m absolutely positive his feelings for you don’t belong in the past tense though… But Alex doesn’t always behave like other guys… He’s always been more rational than emotional, and he can make sacrifices others wouldn’t if he thinks it can lead to something better in the long run. And he’s got some bad experiences in his baggage too, so perhaps you’ll just have to be a bit patient with him and show him that you can really be trusted…”

“What do you mean; he thinks I can’t be trusted?” Ellen asked, feeling a bit hurt.

“No, not like that… but he may think your feelings for him aren’t the real deal, that it’s just a crush, and thus be scared you’ll just end up hurting him if he gives in. And to tell you the truth, flirting with other guys only confirms that theory…” 

“Shit, I’m such an idiot…” Ellen sighed, and shook her head. “You know, I wasn’t deliberately trying to make him jealous or anything, I just really thought he’s not interested… and it felt kind of good to get some attention from the opposite sex for once…”

“Yeah, I can see how that never happens to you normally…” Emma said, voice heavy with sarcasm. Ellen was one of those girls who looked like she stepped right out of a commercial for makeup or something. And even if she didn’t wear anything ostentatious - tight blue jeans tucked into high, black boots and a black turtleneck sweater - it was all too obvious that she had a perfect body underneath.

Ellen shrugged apologetically. “Well, I guess it happens, but when the one guy you actually like totally ignores you, it’s hard not to feel unwanted anyway…” 

“Come on, why don’t you go make peace with him…” Emma smiled, trying to encourage Ellen. It was hard to understand how someone with those looks could ever feel uncertain about their own appeal, but Emma guessed she had a point. What use was there to be wooed by a hundred guys if the one you actually loved didn’t return your feelings? Only, Emma was sure he did...

“Ok…” Ellen agreed “...and thank you. You’re really a great friend, helping me out even though I was a total bitch to you before…” Ellen said shamefully, and gave her a friendly hug. 

*

When they got back from the Ladies, Alex and Cal had already joined the others at the table in an attempt to raise the white flag, and Cal had indeed bought a round of drinks for everyone. Since he was looking much older than his almost 20 and the bartender was a woman, he wasn’t even asked for ID, luckily.

“Hey, where have you been hiding…?” Alex asked, both curious and glad to see Ellen and Emma seemed to have been bonding a bit.

“Oh, girls talk, you know…” Emma smiled and winked at Cal, who raised his glass at her and smiled back.

Alex hadn’t been all too keen on hanging out with Viola’s friends and having to endure Ellen flirt with ponytail Eddie, but now when they were back, she seemed to have lost her interest in him. Instead, she was talking animatedly to Emma, seeming to really make an effort to get to know her. She also seemed to have sobered up really quickly, Alex noticed, and she was back to her old, normal self again. Viola, on the other hand, was still quite tipsy, but she had accepted Cal’s peace offering, and now she was clinging onto him and giggling, which the other guy, Adam, didn’t seem to like much at all. But he had apparently swallowed his defeat, and he went with Eddie to get another round of drinks for all. 

They said cheers in many different languages and emptied the glasses with some kind of red Valentine’s strawberry special that the guys had bought. Or, most of them did empty them. Viola, who had realized she had had too much already, only drank half of hers. Cal seemed to agree, and emptied the rest of her glass to save her from some of it. Even though it might have been the most revolting thing he had ever tasted in his whole life.

And thus it so happened that, just as everything seemed to be back to normal in the group, things really started to get out of hand.

*

Afterwards, Alex thought that he should have understood that something was wrong. It was no more than two minutes after Ellen had emptied her glass that he noticed she started to make more eye contact. After a while, she was flirting rather openly with him, which seemed to really piss ponytail Eddie off. It was making Alex a bit uncomfortable too. He had been working so hard on building up the walls of defense, but when she looked at him like that, they threatened to just come tumbling down. He found it really, really hard not to get lost in her electric blue gaze. When she bit her lower lip and met his eyes under heavy eyelids, and asked him if he wanted to dance in a husky voice, he just completely lost his ability to speak. He had meant to make some excuse, but as he couldn’t get a word out, she just took his hand and dragged him onto the dance floor. 

Alex was almost like paralyzed at first; it was a rather upbeat song playing, but still with a sensual rhythm and a text that was obviously about sex.  _ Curse this stupid Valentine’s day thing…  _ he thought and gulped as Ellen started dancing some really sexy dance, that didn’t seem like her style at all. She was biting her lip and looking him straight into the eyes as she moved her hips in some kind of salsa dance. He tried to look as casual as he could, as he was thinking about a way to escape her, but there seemed to be none that didn’t involve him having to confess how much she affected him. When he tried a lame “Perhaps this isn’t such a good idea” in a cracking voice, she only got closer and whispered “Relax, it’s just a dance…” which he couldn’t really argue with.

When the next song turned out to be a slow dance, he panicked and got ready to flee. But Eddie the ponytail had evidently had enough of their little show too, and he came up and asked Alex if he could cut in. A conflict was raging in him; he wanted to get away from the danger zone on the dancefloor, but he also didn’t want Ellen to slow dance with Eddie. But it didn’t seem like it was his choice anyway, because Ellen just scoffed at Eddie.

“Get lost, I’m dancing with Alex… we’re not done” she snapped.

“Actually…” Alex cleared his throat but Ellen fixated him with her gaze in a way that made him go instantly quiet, and she closed in on him and put her lips close to his ear.

“You’re not leaving me here with him…” she whispered and then she added “It’s you that I want… to dance with” in a very seductive tone, he had never ever heard her use before. In order to really drive him insane, she pulled off her turtleneck sweater, claiming that it was getting really hot in there, and was left with only a tight, spaghetti strap tank top she had been wearing underneath. It showed the straps of her black lace bra under it clearly, and way more skin than Alex had ever seen her showing before and he felt his mouth go dry with a mix of fear and arousal. Somewhere in his foggy brain, he had a thought that she hadn’t meant for anyone to see it when she got dressed this morning.

“Hey, Ellen… I don’t think this is such a good idea. I think you’ve had too much to drink…” he tried to say in a tone that didn’t sound too rejecting when she pressed her body against his and twisted her hands into the hair at the back of his neck. He didn’t know where to put his own hands, there was no safe place to touch at all on her body. He wrapped them loosely around the small of her back, but that only made her press her body even tighter against him and he couldn't control the reactions of his treacherous body no matter how hard he tried to think about things that would normally turn him off.

“Don’t be such a bore… I see things very clearly now Alex… And I know you want me too, I can feel that you do…” she whispered huskily into his ear and pressed herself in a demonstrative way against him. She moaned slightly as she grinded her body against his hardness in a way that made him almost lose his mind completely. What the fuck was she doing? 

“I can’t deny that, obviously, but we decided to be friends, remember…” he tried to compose himself and desperately grasp at the few straws of reason that still lingered somewhere in his consciousness. 

“You decided that… and besides, there are different kind of friends, right? Like...friends with benefits…?” she suggested, still in the same raw, seductive tone and she kissed him lightly on his ear and down his neck. 

Alex thought he was going to faint. He was both more turned on than he had ever been in his entire life, but also completely freaked out. Not only did he know that they were completely wrecking their friendship right now, he also could feel that something was wrong. She would never do this, right? Not in a sober state, not with a clear head. He mustered all of his willpower to take control of his foggy brain again and try to reason with her.

“I don’t think that’s a very good idea Ellen… those arrangements never work out in the long run… And I want you to be my friend. I don’t want to lose you...”

“Just look me in the eyes and say that you don’t want me as anything but your friend, and I’ll go…” she said, pressing him up against a wall she had steered them towards. 

“Ellen... “ he sighed “You know I can’t do that. But I do want you as a friend, and this isn’t the right way if that is going to change. Please, you know that too… Don’t ruin things between us. Can’t we talk about this when you’re sober?” Alex tried to get away from her proximity, since he didn’t know how much more of this he could take before he would cave in and regret it bitterly in the morning.

“I am sober…” she said… “I didn’t drink that much at all…” she said, a bit annoyed and pushed him down on a chair that stood beside the dance floor and sat down in his lap, straddling him.

“Yeah, right… then someone must have slipped you something in that drink, because this isn’t you…” he said, half joking half panicked, but then he froze.  _ Crap, what if the ponytail jerk did it? Alex suddenly realized.  _ He and his friend had been flirting rather heavily with the girls, and then they had bought a round of drinks for everyone… it would have been so easy…

“Don’t be silly, I feel great… And I would feel a whole lot better if you would just kiss me now. Or we could just get out of here and get right to the good stuff. I can get us home and naked in no time…” she whispered in his ear again, biting fondly at his earlobe as she started to move her body against his. 

“God, Ellen…” he groaned and swallowed hard, trying to focus. This was not good. He knew something was very, very wrong about her behavior, and he knew he didn’t want this. But yet, he did. Desperately. He had been fantasizing about her for months, both in his dreams and when he was awake and lost focus for a moment and forgot to watch his own mind. But none of the fantasies came even close to the amazing feeling of her real, warm, soft body against his. And the way she smelled… sweet and intoxicating, like cherry and vanilla, it was like a drug. He felt like his whole insides were made of warm, fuzzy jelly, and he didn’t know how to resist her any more.  _ Alexander Leigh, get a fucking grip…  _ he told himself. He would ruin everything if he let this continue. Not only would he be taking advantage of her, as she was obviously not her self. But even if she didn’t regret it tomorrow, their friendship would be over and he would have no choice but to either say goodbye or get into a relationship with her. And that was a choice he wasn’t ready to make yet. He needed help…

“Come on Ellen, let’s go talk to the others…” he suggested.

“What, we’re telling them we’re leaving..?” she said hopefully.

“Yeah, well… if we want to get out of here, we’ll have to at least talk to them first, ok?” he said, trying to stall for time to think. 

“You go ahead, I’ll just freshen up a bit, ok?” she suggested. “But you’d better be here when I come back...” she said, kissing him gently on the neck again since he managed to turn his head away just in time. 

*

Viola was not sober. Not at all… But the last half hour had made her forget her anger towards Cal, as he was obviously trying to reach out and make up with her again. He was even nice to her friends and bought a round of drinks for all. When Adam and Eddie insisted on returning the favour, she was glad that they all seemed to get along. She felt like she probably shouldn’t drink more tonight. But she took a couple of deep swigs from the strawberry flavoured, sickly sweet drink Adam had brought her and discretely pushed the rest of it towards her boyfriend. She knew he could drink all he wanted to without being affected. He would not like the taste, but he’d survive. 

After a few minutes, her head started to spin even more than before, but it was a weird feeling. Like a warm, fuzzy heat spreading through her body. She vaguely noticed that Adam tried to get her up on the dance floor, probably thinking it was ok with Cal since he was trying to bond with the guys. But Cal stopped him, and said something rather rude and a bit possessive about Viola being his girl and Adam should watch it or he would get into trouble. It was really unlike Cal, and normally, Viola would probably have been upset. But now, for some reason, she only felt oddly turned on by his macho behaviour. Or, she realized, even more turned on. Because that warm, hot feeling was originating in her lower belly and she suddenly felt impossibly horny, like she couldn’t wait a minute longer before she got some. 

“God, you’re so hot tonight… can’t you just speed us home, I want you. Like now…” she whispered in a seductive voice to Cal and started kissing him on the neck. Somewhere in her hazy mind, she registered Ellen dragging Alex up onto the dance floor.  _ Wow, Ellen. Good for you, go get him girl... _ She whispered, hoping that Ellen would hear. She had had her kryptonite bracelet on when they were drinking, but Viola had noticed she had turned it off and sobered up when the others joined them. 

“In a minute, I want to dance first… I’m going to show those idiots whom you belong to…” he muttered back.

“Please… I can’t believe how turned on I suddenly got…” she sighed, and then she felt a bit mischievous. Silently thanking herself for wearing a skirt tonight for a change, she took Cal’s hand and placed it high up on the inside of her left thigh. “Feel for yourself…” she whispered in his ear, and then she kissed him while she felt his hand sliding up her leg towards her groin and she moaned silently into his mouth when she felt him not only feeling her wetness, but cautiously sliding her panties to the side and pushing a finger inside of her.  _ Oh, god. He’s kinky tonight _ her hazy mind registred, and she got even more turned on, which she hadn’t thought possible.

“If your are quiet, I’ll help you with that first… but you will dance with me before we leave this place…” he mumbled into her ear and started massaging her clit while pushing another finger into her. She vaguely wondered if the others would notice, but she didn’t think so. Luckily, there was a rather long table cloth covering them and since Ellen and dragged Alex away, there was nobody sitting on Viola’s other side. They did see their hungry kisses, of course, but that wasn’t anything unusual for them to do, really. Viola had to fight hard to keep relatively still and quiet when she felt his thumb increase the speed on her clit and his fingers pushing deeper into her. She couldn’t help herself from wiggling a bit against his hand and moaning when she came, but she didn’t think anybody noticed.

“Oh, god… you’re the best. But I’m still all hot and bothered, damn it…” she whispered huskily into his ear.

“Yeah? Well, you’re not the only one…” he whispered back and placed her hand on his erection. “But we are going to dance first, I told you… come on…” he said and dragged her up and onto the dance floor. 

Luckily for them, or at least they thought so right there and then, there was a slow sexy beat playing and they started dancing, pressing their bodies flush against each other and still kissing deeply. Viola giggled a bit when she noticed how Cal was deliberately positioning them so Adam had a pretty good view of the show. And he was bold as hell too, stroking her leg under her skirt so he almost hoisted it up to her bottom. She knew his behavior should probably upset her, but at the moment she only felt herself getting even more horny. It was as if she suddenly lacked access to the part of her brain where her common sense was stored, and she was controlled by some animal part of her mind that only wanted sex, apparently.

“Please, I want you… take me home and fuck me…” she begged. Not something she would usually say, but right now, she had no decency at all, it seemed. But talking dirty obviously worked miracles on her hot boyfriend, because he got something wild in his eyes and pushed her up against a wall on the side of the dance floor.  _ Wow, who would have known he had such a kinky side... _

“Soon… or we could just do it here… nobody will know…” he murmured in her ear as he started to undo a couple of buttons in her blouse. He had already hoisted her skirt up her legs, and he held her up, pressed against the wall with her legs wrapped around his, so she could feel his erection pressing against her panties.

“You are crazy…” she giggled, but somehow she didn’t seem to have the mental strength to resist him, and the friction of his harness felt wonderful against her center. He still kissed her hungrily, and she could feel his hands snaking up under her blouse, and she was almost going to agree when a guard tapped Cal on the shoulder.

“I think you two are done here… don’t you have a bedroom somewhere?” he said in a stern voice.

“Sorry, we were just leaving…” Viola giggled, but she noticed that Cal looked a bit disappointed. Like if he had really wanted to go through with it, right in front of the noses of all their friends and quite a lot of strangers. 

***

It wasn’t until they were in the elevator that Viola knew something wasn’t right with Cal. He pushed her up against the wall, hoisting her skirt back up.

“Now, where were we…?” he murmured and started to undo her buttons again.

“Stop, Cal, you’ll get us arrested. There’s a camera…” she giggled.

“Well, it’s broken…” he said and she saw sparks flying from it as he focused his gaze.

“You didn’t…” she gasped.

“I want you. Now.” he said simply, pressed the emergency stop button and started to undo his belt buckle as if nothing in particular had happened. 

Viola knew she should protest. This was not ok behaviour. But she had no strength to resist him. He was too bloody hot. And she was too bloody horny, still. So she just threw all caution away and started kissing him like mad while he fumbled with his pants. She got a bit impatient and started helping him with the buttons. She was more than ready for him and she didn’t even protest when he ripped her panties to pieces before he slowly pressed himself into her, groaning, holding her against the wall of the elevator. 

“Oh, god… yes… harder…” she urged him on, almost exploding from the feeling of him inside of her. He was being a bit rougher than usual, but it wasn’t too much, it was perfect. Just what she needed right now and she had to fight not to scream when he thrust deep and hard into her time after time. Suddenly he slowed down the pace and stopped and she wiggled desperately against him in protest.

“I can’t hold it much longer…” he grunted into her ear. This was unusual… he normally never had much of a problem prolonging his climax if he needed to. 

“Don’t stop…” she panted and tried to move herself up and down on him, impatiently. She was almost there too and when he pushed his hand down between them to massage her clit, superspeed, she climaxed around him at once, and at the same time she felt him explode inside of her as well. 

“Oh, god… that was… “ she panted heavily. But she felt the heat build up again, almost as soon as they had straightened their clothes. “Damn, I still want you… I don’t know what’s wrong with me today…” she muttered, half turned on, half exasperated.

“I’m not complaining…” he smiled a mischievous smile at her. “Speed home and go again?” he said, and kissed her gently on the neck as the elevator doors opened. 

***

“Oh, what did you do to Ellen, you two looked like you were having a good time on the dance floor…” Leo teased Alex as he got back to the table where the others still sat, and he could see Leo’s gaze dropping to the evidence visible in his bulging jeans. But he had had no time to do anything about that, or the mental capacity to be embarrassed at the moment.

“Leo, where are Cal and Viola?” Alex looked around, feeling a bit stressed. “It’s a bit of an emergency…”

“What happened…?” Leo asked, confused. 

Alex beckoned for him to get up and follow, and he took him a bit to the side. 

“Ehrm… well… there’s something wrong with Ellen. She was kind of… coming on to me…” Alex said, feeling a bit awkward.

“Ok, what else is new…? Looks like it worked...” Leo snorted with laughter.

“Please, I’m serious here… I mean, she’s literally trying to force me to go home with her…” 

“Oh, that must be really a terrible faith for a guy. Being forced into the bed of a beautiful girl...” Leo laughed, but at the look on Alex’s face he started to frown.

“You know I really like Ellen, but we’ve decided to be friends and I can’t give her more right now… But this isn’t even about that. She’s acting totally out of character, suggesting we should just have sex, and more or less throwing herself at me. Like she has no boundaries at all, all of a sudden… I think someone might have slipped something into her drink.” Alex said, pleading for Leo to understand.

“Shit…” Leo suddenly said, realization dawning upon him. “Cal and Vi…” he sighed and smacked his head. But how was it even possible…? If not… No, it couldn’t be, could it? Yeah, it had to be… some drug that included red kryptonite…  _ Double crap _ !

“What?”

“Yeah, I think you might be right. And in Viola’s drink too… Only, Cal drank half of it…”

“What happened to them…?” 

“They just got thrown out of the bar for… well… almost having sex on the dance floor. I just hope they went home, or we’ll have to bail them out later when they get caught by the sheriff instead…” he sighed. 

“So, what do we do? We should call the police…” Alex said, starting to get angry at the idea of what could have happened. “If it were those friends of Viola’s who bought the last round of drinks, I can only assume their plan backfired on them… They must have had some other outcome in mind, and I don’t like it at all…” he hissed.

“Yeah, but we have no proof. And trust me, we don’t want the police involved in this… But look, Alex… Ellen didn’t do anything else… like something weird…?” Leo asked, a bit worried.

“Eh, weirder than sort of trying to give me a lapdance and suggesting we could be friends with benefits…? No, I think that was awkward enough…” Alex huffed and Leo couldn’t help but burst out laughing. Ellen was seriously going to die from shame tomorrow when she realized what she had done. Thank heavens at least she hadn’t exposed herself…

“Shit, Alex… you are a real gentleman you know… most guys wouldn’t have hesitated to take advantage of that situation” Leo shook his head.

“Yeah, but as I said… I really like Ellen. This isn’t how I want our friendship to end… Or how I would like our relationship to start if we are ever to have one…” he answered and Leo gave him a friendly pat on the back.

“So, how the hell do I get out of this…?” Alex asked Leo, pleading for his help.

“Ok, so this is what we do… You tell Ellen you have to take Emma home first, and that you’ll come by the apartment later. I’ll get her help… once she’s free from whatever shit it is, she will only be happy you didn’t show up” Leo suggested.

“Hm. It doesn’t feel good to trick her like that…”

“Trust me, it’s the only way… and she will thank you tomorrow.”

*

Alex was sitting with Emma at the breakfast table, discussing the odd events of the night before. He hadn’t told Emma exactly what Ellen had said or done, only that she came on to him quite strongly and that Leo had suspected it was some kind of drug that had affected Cal and Viola too. Emma had been a bit scared at first that it was her fault for telling Ellen Alex was in love with her, so she was almost relieved to realize it wouldn’t have made Ellen behave like that. And she had been almost shocked to see Viola and Cal going at it at the dance floor.

“That would explain the indecent behavior…” Emma said, thoughtfully, spreading butter on a piece of toast. “I mean, it’s ok to be in love and to make out a bit in public I guess, but that was quite… much…” she shook her head. “I can’t understand why their cousin didn’t react earlier…”

“Yeah, well, they can be a bit heavy on the PDA from time to time, it’s nothing unusual. Leo probably just thought it was funny that it got out of hand and chalked it up to alcohol poisoning or something…” Alex said and rolled his eyes. 

He was more than a little worried about Ellen though. What had happened with her yesterday after she left with Leo? Would she be mad that he had tricked her? Or too ashamed to ever speak to him again? And mainly, how would he ever be able to erase the memory of her body pressing against his when she had sat across his lap, kissing his neck. He had lain awake most of the night unable to shake the weird feeling of arousal mixed with panic and her wonderful scent that lingered on him. Alex sighed and took a big swig of his coffee. This was going to be a long day. 

At that moment the doorbell rang though and Alex’s heart jumped at the sight of Ellen outside the door. She held up a bag and had a really cute pout on her face.

“Hi… can I come in? I brought chocolate croissants... “

“Allright… thanks…” he said a bit awkwardly, accepting the bag, and holding up the door for her, mostly because he didn’t know what else to do. He had no idea what to say, but Ellen spoke first.

“Yeah... “ she shuffled a bit with her feet. “...they were all out of the  _ Sorry that I turned in to a freaky succubus and tried to devour you  _ -cards, so I thought breakfast would do...” she said with a sheepish grin. 

Alex exhaled in relief and gave her an amused smile. Ellen was back… his Ellen. And she had obviously decided to try to keep it light and ignore the awkwardness. Well, he was all for that. Talking about his feelings or dragging up old mishaps were never any of his favourite hobbies. And this way, perhaps his friendship with Ellen could remain intact. Luckily, she seemed to want that too, because she started talking to him like nothing had happened once the ice was broken and she gave Emma a friendly hug and a big smile when she came out into the kitchen.

“I come with an invitation for you both to have pizza and play board games with us if you have time while you are still in Metropolis?” Ellen asked Emma.

“Oh, that sounds great…” she said.

“Yeah, we thought you deserved a second chance to get to know us when we are not all acting like crazy freaks…” she said bluntly and smiled.

“Oki… that’s an offer I can hardly resist. I’d love to know who you all are behind the maniac disguises.” Emma laughed. “But now you have to tell us what happened after we left yesterday?”

Ellen was relieved that Alex was accepting her peace offering without any apparent reservations. When she woke up this morning, she had been so humiliated she had decided never ever to speak with him again. But luckily, she was good at letting things go. She was straightforward, nosy and hot tempered as a person, resulting in a lifetime of experience in the art of apologizing. Although she had to confess this was probably the most embarrassing thing she had ever done. It was right up there in line with the time she had tried to expose a teacher who she thought was taking bribes from parents for better grades for their kids, but instead walked in on him having sex with his wife after stealing his phone and reading about a “secret meeting”. 

But humiliating as the night before may have been, Alex meant too much for her to let this blunder ruin their friendship. And she had a good excuse too, she had been drugged, after all. He didn’t need to know that the only part of the drug that affected her was the red kryptonite that had been added to it, which only made her lose her inhibitions; it didn’t actually make her do anything she didn’t want to. But since the drug in question was an aphrodisiac, designed to turn women into horny maniacs, she had a good alibi, after all. She also tried to tweak the story a bit to make it seem like if she had chosen him to attack by accident when Emma asked about the source of the drug.

“Yeah, it turned out to be Viola’s friends, or shall I say ex friends, perhaps, who slipped us that stuff in our drinks. Unfortunately for them, their plan backfired since Cal not only drank half of Viola’s drink and was affected too, but he also managed to talk her out of dancing with Adam. And luckily for me, I was dancing with Alex when the effect of the drug started to show… If I had said yes to dance with that creep Eddie, only the gods know what would have happened.” Ellen explained, trying to sound innocent. 

“Yeah, lucky indeed…” Emma said with a small smirk that made Ellen think she didn’t quite buy it. But she was kind enough not to let Alex see that.

“So what happened with Cal and Vi? And with the British bad boys?” Alex asked.

“Yeah, well… luckily once more, Cal and Vi didn’t do anything that got them arrested. Or at least they didn’t get caught. They won’t really talk…” Ellen smirked “...but let’s just say it was difficult to get them out of the bedroom long enough to convince them that something was wrong once they had locked themselves up there... But anyway, our doctor owed mum a favor, and he hasn’t got much of a life anyway, so he came by and did some tests and sorted us all out.”

“Oh jeez, imagine them having to tell your doctor about the symptoms... it must have been quite a story for him to tell his colleagues…” Emma couldn’t help herself, she started giggling a bit, but Ellen just smiled and shook her head. She couldn’t tell them the whole truth of course, but Dr. Emil had definitely seen worse in his days. And done worse…

“So, what about the bad boys?”

“Well, we managed to dig up some evidence against them. I mean, it wasn’t hard to realize what had happened. And let’s just say that they won’t be bothering us again anytime soon…”

“Yeah, we don’t want to know where you buried the bodies…” Alex joked. He remembered Ellen’s karate attack on the robber and he knew Viola was into martial arts as well. And he could only imagine what those two rather hot tempered ladies would have done to someone who had drugged them and tried to take advantage of them… Not to mention that he suspected both Leo and Cal were not unskilled fighters either.

“Don’t worry. The police came and rescued them… but they might have taken a few hits before that… and most of their belongings seem to have mysteriously disappeared into another dimension. Oh, and the story, along with some compromising photos, seems to somehow have leaked out on social media reaching everybody they ever knew...” 

*

The  _ board games and pizza _ -night with Emma and Alex was fortunately a success, without any mishaps with illegal drugs, meteor rocks, excessive drinking, inappropriate flirting or indecent behavior of any kind.  Unless you counted the battle of glares and mutual accusations of cheating between Ellen and Nico. Somehow, throwing one more ridiculously competitive person with a bad temperament into the equation wasn’t only a good thing. But Will and Nico had practically been inseparable ever since the Christmas party, and everybody had just accepted them as a unity now. And since they spent a fair amount of time at Nico’s place, they were just happy that they even got to see Will. His boyfriend’s evil death glares and sarcastic snark was a reasonable price to pay, especially since they had all realized he was just a big, sweet dork underneath that goth-exterior… And when things got too bad, Will always managed to distract him. As unlikely a couple as they would seem to a stranger, with Will’s sunny smile and sparkling personality contrasting Nico’s dry sarcasm and death stares, they somehow balanced each other out. Like poster boys for the saying “opposites attract”.

Alex was both relieved and a tiny bit disappointed, if he was honest with himself. He was still terrified by the idea of starting something with Ellen, but for some stupid reason, he wanted her to want him. Like if his subconscious wanted to know that he still had a chance with her if he ever manned up and went for it. She had really managed to tear down some of his carefully cemented walls of defense yesterday, and it would take some time to rebuild them and convince himself that he wanted nothing more than her friendship again. But she had seemed completely indifferent to the events of the previous evening, and she was acting exactly as normal. So maybe it had been a coincidence that he had been the victim of her attack after all? Emma refused to believe it though, and she was arguing with him all the way back from the game night.

“I’m not buying it… First of all, she was talking to me like if nothing was happening, but the moment she drank that stuff she started to flirt like crazy with you. It wasn’t an accident Alex. I swear, she only had eyes for you, it was her choice to drag you up onto the dance floor, not some freak accident.” Emma said, taking his arm where they walked through a still snowy Metropolis.

“Yeah, but that could still have been the drugs talking, right. I mean, you saw her tonight. She was just acting as always, like if nothing happened.” Alex protested.

“I don’t know… I think she was deliberately trying to act indifferent. She was so normal, it wasn’t normal. And I definitely caught her looking at you several times when she didn’t think anyone saw her. Besides, she more or less confessed she had been jealous of me because you came to the party with me on Valentine’s day… And that was before the whole drug episode…” Emma argued.

“Yeah, but still… if she did want something from me, why not take this opportunity to talk about it? I mean, she must have noticed that I wasn’t all unmoved by her little seduction act. You don’t even want to know how close I was to caving in… thank heavens I managed to resist…” he muttered, thoughtfully.

“Aren’t you supposed to be smart Alex…? I think it’s kind of obvious. She’s humiliated, of course… and probably scared that she freaked you out since you have been so persistent that you only want to be friends. I think you have to make the first move if you want to take this beyond friendship actually…”

“Yeah, the problem is that I don’t know if I do. I mean, I agree that it’s hard sometimes… I obviously have feelings for her… but I really don’t want a girlfriend. At least not right now. And I’m scared I’m going to lose her forever if I screw it up…” he sighed. He hadn’t told anyone else about his feelings for Ellen, but he knew Emma could see right through him anyway. And did feel good to talk to someone about it.

“Ok, if you say so… but I’m warning you Alex. She will not wait around for you forever. And you will regret it when you’ve lost your chance just because you didn’t consider the timing perfect. Believe me… I think you’re an idiot actually.” 

“Thanks for the encouragement…” he said sourly.

“Just calling it as I see it...” she smirked. Emma really loved Alex like a big brother, and right now she knew he was missing out on a great opportunity, which made her sad. But she also knew Alex too well to know that there was no point in arguing with him when he had made up his mind. Especially not when she would have to convince him he was fooling himself, because he would not easily confess to something like that. That’s the problem with having too much confidence in your own logic and building too much of your identity and sense of self around your intelligence. It’s hard to admit when you are wrong...

Alex lay awake many hours that night, thinking. He couldn’t deny to himself that he wanted Ellen in a whole other way, but his logic and his common sense still told him that they were better off as friends. So he worked slowly on rebuilding his walls of defense, capturing his feelings for her somewhere safe, deep down in his mind. The memories of Ellen trying to seduce him kept popping up in his dreams, but he managed to contain them there for now. And after a month or so, they were almost back to normal, and he could relax again. 

Well, at least for the time being... 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you haven't seen Smallville, in this series the canon understanding of Red K is that it makes Clark loose all his inhibitions and makes him a total flirt. I guess it's similar throughout the DC-verse, but in some versions I think it only makes him go a bit crazy if I recall correctly? Anyway, I loved those episodes of Smallville where red K was involved, so I had to make one myself and let the kids go a bit mental.
> 
> At first, I was going to let Alex get drugged too, and let something juicy happen, but then I realized that it would probably just make him freak out and there would have to be another "season" of this imaginary series before he comes around and realized he and Ellen are meant to be together (Sorry for the spoiler, but I guess you already realized that since I'm a sucker for happy endings for everyone who deserves it...)


	22. Mysterious visitors

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which we meet two mysterious characters who seem to know a bit more about things than they should... and also, Ellen has had enough of Alex's fear of commitment once and for all (finally!).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a long chapter, >13 000 words... but I found no good way to divide it in two... So, be warned! Otherwise, there's some drama, jealousy and one potential life-threatening situation, but no specific warnings. Except for some random occurrences of badly written dialogue and made up computer games and hacking strategies that probably don't make any sense (since I don't know much about computers or online gaming to be honest. I only ever played Nintendo...)

Ellen sat on Alex’s bed, watching him set up the game they had decided to play that night. She had been looking forward to it. It was only like the third time she had ever been to Alex’s place, and the first time they would be alone there. She really loved it. The first time she drove up to the big, pink house she had been surprised. It was a beautiful building, as much in the middle of Metropolis as you could get a house, and it had a large garden. Not that it was a mansion or anything, but it must still be worth a small fortune considering the location. And it wasn’t the first place you would think a single father with an only child would live. Could they have lived there since before his mom died? Then she remembered that Alex’s family owned the chain of cafés that had almost put Starbucks out of business a couple of years back with its more personal, homey feeling. They obviously made good money from it, but it was nothing that Alex ever seemed to show off. Sure, he had some expensive computers and stuff, but he was a geek, after all. There had been a sporty looking electric car parked in the driveway, although his dad wasn’t home, the first time she had been there; and today it stood there too. Ellen wondered if it was Alex’s. Come to think of it, she had never even seen him drive a car. He always walked, claiming it was better for both the health and the environment, and they had never been anywhere other than in central Metropolis together. But he must own a car, right? She didn’t ask though. It wasn’t like it mattered to her what kind of car he drove anyway.

Instead she looked around the room while she was waiting for him to finish the setup. It was large, but sparingly furnished, and there were no pictures on the walls except for science posters. Like a big one with the periodic table of the elements, and another with the solar system. There was also a large glass board where he had scribbled equations and code with markers, and a picture of his parents with, what she assumed, him as a baby in it. And of course, there were a lot of screens and computers, or parts of computers. It was a bit hard to determine what was what for a layperson… There was also a large flat screen with streaming equipment and two gaming consoles on a dresser in front of the rather large bed. Why did he have such a large bed for himself only, she wondered, but then her mind darkened when she realized that him not dating didn’t necessarily mean that he always slept alone in that bed. For a second, she zoned out a bit, thinking about that she wouldn’t mind spending the whole night, or many nights even, snuggling with Alex in the comfy bed, watching a movie...or….something… She stroked her hand over the blue and white chequered duvet. It smelled fresh, a scent of detergent lingering. She imagined crawling under it and...

Her fantasy was interrupted when she heard him chuckle a bit and she saw him typing something into a chat window. She got up behind him and was a bit annoyed to see that he was spending time talking to some girl, or at least she assumed so from the avatar and the name, when he was supposed to be preparing for their game. 

“So, who is this Juno you are chatting with…? Is it one of your team mates?” Ellen asked curiously. 

“Nope, it’s an online player… Never met her, actually…” 

“She sure seems eager to talk to you for someone you’ve never met…” Ellen said. She couldn’t help noticing the conversation was rather long and had entries from in the middle of the night in it when he scrolled a bit looking for something.

“Yeah, I know. It’s really cool… She’s awesome. I can’t believe she wants to talk with me, actually. She even suggested we meet…” Alex said, proudly.

“Oh.” Ellen said in a small voice. “So, what’s so cool about her…?” she tried to sound innocent.

“Well, she came into the Battleground Empyreon community only a month ago or so. Perhaps even less. I had never really heard about her before the MetGamersCon last week, where she absolutely crushed everyone. I mean, I don’t want to brag, but me or someone from my team has won all of the challenges they do there for the last four years, but she wiped the proverbial floor with us. Completely. It was almost as if she’d played them all before…”

“Are you sure she hadn’t?” 

“Yeah, that’s impossible. They are protected by an army of hackers before the convention…” 

Ellen saw again how the chat screen popped open and noticed the girl called JunoX typed something, but wrote Alex instead of his tag.

“So, she knows your real name?”

“Yeah, it seems she’s a bit of a hacker too… Actually, we did this little challenge a couple of days ago. And she broke down all my attempts to block her like they had been made of dust… It was mighty impressive…” 

“Cool… but how do you know you can trust her?” 

“Why not? I mean, it’s not like I used a computer where I actually have anything she could use. I’m not stupid… But I don’t think she would like to meet me if she was up to something…”

“Yeah, perhaps not… but be careful, ok?” Ellen said, frowning. There was something…not adding up. She didn’t know what it was. Something about the conversation she had seen flashing by… But Alex only chuckled at her and asked if she wanted to play or not, and Ellen agreed, but she felt a bit off the whole evening. And that damn chat window kept popping up on his laptop. She huffed silently, but she felt stupid. How could she be jealous of someone he hadn’t even met? He was only impressed by her skills, that was all…

It was only when she got back home and stood in front of the mirror brushing her teeth that it struck her what had been bugging her about this JunoX. She had seemed to know things about Alex that she really shouldn’t have if they had never met. And she dropped him insinuations about liking the same stuff he did all the time, the way you did if you tried to flirt with someone after first finding out all about their favorite movies and music and stuff. And then she wrote about what a coincidence it was that they both liked that, or had been there or other things. Ellen didn’t believe in coincidences… But how could she prove to Alex that she suspected the girl had been checking up on him somehow and was deliberately using that information to get close to him? She couldn’t really tell him she had speed read his whole conversation when he scrolled up. In fact, she hardly even wanted to confess to herself that she had done that exact thing. 

*

It was no more than two days later when Ellen met JunoX for the first time. And then she knew. Or, she didn’t know much at all about her, really. But she knew the girl was pure evil.

Ellen was walking into the café with Viola when she spotted Alex talking to a woman who was sitting at the counter where he was working. At first, she only saw the back of her. She was silver blond, with a couple of streaks of blue in her long hair, and she had a bit of an odd outfit that made Ellen think  _ Gamer Geek _ the instant she laid eyes on her. She heard her giggle and obviously flirt shamelessly with Alex, and she felt her heart sink a bit. But to her delight, he seemed oblivious to such fluff as always. Instead, he smiled brightly and waved when he saw Ellen and Viola. And then the girl turned around. And that’s when Ellen knew. 

She had been pretty, but a bit nerdy looking, Ellen thought afterwards. Quite a lot of makeup, in a way that reminded her a bit of Liz, but with more blue. She had no visible piercings, but Ellen did notice the shape of a tattoo visible in her pretty generous cleavage. But the only thing that Ellen noticed in that exact moment was the look on the girl’s face. Her smile froze as if she had seen a ghost when she turned around and lay eyes upon Ellen, and then the look on her face changed from surprise to fury in a flash, before she composed herself and put on a sickly sweet fake smile. But her stormy grey eyes were full of pure hatred. Her gaze struck Ellen violently like a punch in the face, and she could see her knuckles whiten and hear her pulse quicken as if she had been really scared or angry. 

“Hey Ellen, Vi… this is June… she’s the wicked gamer I told you about…” Alex said with a smarmy tone that Ellen would never have though he would stoop to, and that made her want to rip the girl’s vicious head off. 

“Oh, hi… nice to meet you…” the girl said, still unable to hide the look on her face that gave away that she didn’t really think so at all. “...are you a friend of Alex’s?” she asked, trying to sound casual, but Ellen picked up a faint tremble in her voice that she didn’t like at all.

“Yeah, these are my friends Viola and Ellen…” Alex said, introducing them, but the conversation was short lived. Ellen got the feeling none of the two wanted them there, so she asked Alex for a caramel macchiato to go and urged Viola out of there.

“Did you notice the way she was looking at me?” Ellen asked her friend once they were safely outside.

“Yeah, I mean. She did look a bit like if she was jealous… Perhaps she’s got a thing for Alex but he told her about you…?” Viola answered nudging Ellen with the elbow.

“No, I don’t think that was it…” Ellen contemplated, but she didn’t tell Viola about her suspicions either.

*

Ellen walked straight home only talking briefly to Viola, Cal and Leo for a couple of minutes before shutting herself up in her bedroom. All in all, it couldn’t have been more than half an hour at most since she left the café. But the moment she turned her computer on, she noticed it had been hacked. Some of her documents had been destroyed and she could see that others had been read. The hacker hadn’t even done much to cover her tracks. Because Ellen was sure it was a her… She didn’t know how the hell she had done it, but somehow she knew it was JunoX. It had to be… And if that was not enough, she had left a warning behind for Ellen. The picture of the adorable puppy Alex had sent her after the Christmas party was now her desk top image. Only, the dog had a gun pointing at it’s head and the text “Back off, or next time your drive will be wiped clean…” written across it. 

Ellen was furious. Fuming, raging mad. Not only was she obviously after Alex, but she thought she could threaten Ellen.  _ Well, wrong girl, hacker bitch...  _ she thought and took her laptop under her arm and stomped back to the café. 

Alex was still working, but there was no sign of JunoX. She didn’t know if she was relieved or sorry about this. She wanted to hit her pretty little blond face, but she also wanted to talk to Alex.

“Hi, Ellen… you’re back? I thought you had to study…” 

“Yeah, well, my computer was hacked…” she huffed, still fuming mad.

“What? Who would do that…?” Alex said, surprised.

“What about your pretty little friend…? She didn’t seem to like me much, to tell you the truth…” 

“What, June? No way…” Alex shook his head. Ellen sighed. Men. Just because she was pretty and batted her blue fake eyelashes at him, she could do no wrong, or what?

“Why not..? It had to be her… I mean, I don’t know any other hackers that hate me…” she said. “And it’s a bit too much of a coincidence that I discovered it less than an hour after I met her…” 

“Think about it Ellen, it’s just not logical. First of all, June didn’t even know you existed before today. I never told her about any of my friends. And second, she was here until like five minutes ago… she couldn’t have done it.” Alex said.

“But why did she seem to hate me if she didn’t know about me before? I think she’s been checking up on you to tell you the truth…” Ellen crossed her arms.

“Paranoid much?” Alex snapped, evidently annoyed at Ellen’s accusations.

“Look, are you sure she was here the whole time? She didn’t leave at all?” Ellen asked.

“No. Not for more than five or ten minutes when she went to the bathroom... “ he saw the look on Ellen’s face and continued before she could answer. “...she didn’t even have a computer on her. And even if she did there’s absolutely no way she could have hacked you in five minutes, no matter how good she is…”

“Then explain to me how this happened... “ Ellen said, in an equally annoyed voice and handed over her computer.

“How what happened?” Alex asked.

“There are files missing, and that message on the desktop is pretty obvious…” Ellen snapped. Was he blind, or deliberately trying not to see?

“What message…?”

Ellen took the laptop back, and was stunned to see that the picture of the puppy was gone. As were any other obvious traces of intrusion.

“What…? How…? Swear to god, she is doing this on purpose…” Ellen muttered.

“Are you hallucinating, or are you making this up to make my friend look bad?” Alex asked, now he was evidently getting angry. Ellen had never even seen him lose his temper before. Why did he have to tear himself apart do defend this Juno girl?

“Why would you think that…?” Ellen said, so mad she was almost crying now. 

“Well, you’re acting a bit like a jealous girlfriend to tell you the truth… I mean, June only said nice things about you, except for that she got the feeling you didn’t like her. I said she was crazy, but it seems she was right after all…” Alex huffed.

“I can’t believe you would take her word for it, but you don’t trust me… You only just met her Alex, and you’ve known me for more than half a year…” 

“Well, she’s not done anything to make me doubt her…” Alex snapped.

“And I have? Well, bite me…” she yelled, the tears threatening to start flooding any moment. She didn’t want him to see that, though, so she just stormed out of the café, now both fuming mad and miserable. 

*

Ellen didn’t talk to, or chat with, Alex the whole next day. She was still so mad, she actually walked in circles around Campus to avoid him. She had only told Viola about the fight with Alex, and while her friend supported her, it was also clear that she didn’t really believe it was so bad with Juno. She agreed she seemed a bit odd, but she hadn’t seen the flash of fury on her face and she hadn’t really felt the hatred in her gaze. Viola also thought it was weird with the computer, and although Ellen did agree it didn’t quite add up, she just knew it was her, somehow.

“What about Liz” Viola suggested. “She’s a hacker too, and she  _ officially _ hates you…” 

“I know, but she’s hated me for months. Why attack me now? It’s too much of a coincidence…”

“Look, I think you should talk to Alex again…”

“No way. He said some really horrible stuff to me Vi. Called me a jealous girlfriend when I tried to warn him about Juno. I know he can’t know I read the chat, but still. The way he just took her side without blinking. He can come to me if he wants to talk or he can hang out with his little hacker girlfriend…” she scoffed. 

Viola sighed, she knew it was no use. Ellen normally didn’t stay mad too long, but she suspected all these months of frustration with Alex for keeping her at an arm’s length was finally finding an outlet. It was perhaps better if she cooled down a bit before talking to him. The day after tomorrow they were all going to the grand opening of a new club in Metropolis that they were really excited about, even Alex, surprisingly enough. It was one of these occasions when Leo had actually pulled some strings to get them on the guest list even if he was still supposed to play his part as a normal college student. But it was an old friend of Oliver’s who had opened it, and he had put him on the list, together with his friends, under the name Sullivan. Viola hoped this little happening would smooth things over between Ellen and Alex. At least, the chance of that Juno-girl being there was almost non-existing.

“Vi, look… Liz… that’s a bit odd, isn’t it? What’s she doing on Campus? She doesn’t even go here…” Ellen suddenly said, ripping Viola from her thoughts. “Look, I’m sorry, but I’m following her… I have to find out if she was the one who hacked my computer or if it was Juno…” 

Viola opened her mouth to protest, but naturally, Ellen was already gone. She sighed and wrapped her coat tighter around her chest to protect her from the chilly wind that was trying to frighten the first signs of the approaching summer back into hiding. It was so typical. They had enjoyed some lovely spring weather almost all of April, but as May approached, and she just had put her winter clothes back into the boxes in the attic at home, the cold winds were back. Perhaps the weather was mocking her too? This wasn’t going to be a good week. Not only were Ellen and Alex fighting, Leo and Holly had shut themselves up into some little world of their own in their seemingly never ending state of sickening infatuation. Who would have known they would become so intolerable to be around once they decided to become a couple? Will had practically moved in with Nico now, and was rarely seen at the apartment and Katie had almost stopped hanging out with them too, since she was so swamped with work and had made a lot of new friends. And to top it all off, Cal was going to miss the grand Club opening; in fact, he had already left for the Fortress. She had been looking forward to hanging out with Ellen, but she seemed too occupied with the Alex-situation to have much energy left for anything else. She watched her friend as she walked hurriedly across the freshly green lawn, fixed upon the spot where Liz had disappeared from their sight only moments ago.

*

Ellen pressed herself against the wall. If there was something she didn’t want right now, it was for Alex or Liz to catch her spying on them. That would probably be the final nail in the coffin to bury her friendship with Alex in… But how was she supposed to know Liz was actually meeting up with  _ him _ ? And now she was too curious to let it go… She could hear them clearly from where she stood on the other side of the house, but she wanted to see them too… She didn’t dare use her super speed here, there were too many students around, so she snuck around the house, and made her way behind the bushes on the other side of the lawn where they were sitting, right in the middle of it. She could easily see them through the foliage, but she didn’t think they would be able to spot her hiding here. If someone else happened to come by, it would be a bit difficult to explain what she was doing, hiding in the shrubbery… As Alex and Liz sat at a distance from everyone else that would make it impossible to eavesdrop, unless you happened to have super hearing, nobody could suspect her to do exactly that, though. 

“You’re absolutely sure…?” she heard Alex ask.

“Positive. I went over it three times. None of the security systems have been breached and there are no signs of intrusion at all. Why would you suspect that anyway?” Liz asked him curiously.

“I don’t know… I was just thinking about JunoX, you know. I don’t want to sound like a sore loser, but it is a bit weird that she showed up out of nowhere and just crushed us like that… I mean, most of the others have been playing Battleground Empyreon for years…”

“Well, maybe she did under a different name…?”

“Yeah, I thought about that actually. But  _ nobody _ is that good. And none of the top players have disappeared from the scene to be able come back under a new name either.” Alex raked a hand through his messy chocolate hair and sighed.

“So, you only seemed totally awed before… what made you suspicious?” 

“I… It was something Ellen said actually…” 

“Ellen…” Liz snorted with laughter. “That paranoid, jealous bitch girlfriend of yours? Yeah, that’s a shocker… guess she doesn’t appreciate that you have a date with June tonight, huh?”

“First of all… can you stop being so mean to Ellen. And she is not my girlfriend… Besides, it’s not a date. I’m only meeting her to share some player tips. She promised to show me some stuff… And Ellen doesn’t even know…” Alex muttered. 

“Oh, and you would like to keep it that way, right?” Liz smirked at him. “Come on, maybe you think you are just friends, but anyone with eyes can see that Ellen is in love with you… Don’t listen to her, she’s just jealous. And she’s going to freak if she finds out about your date…” 

Liz seemed to enjoy this a little too much. Ellen really had muster up all her willpower not to storm in and rip Liz’s head off right then and there.

“I told you, it’s not a date…” Alex said again

“So, why didn’t you tell Ellen about it?” 

“We kind of had this fight and she’s not talking to me at all at the moment… and she’s got some inexplicable grudge against June. She thinks she hacked her computer…”

“Wow, that’s a serious accusation… could it be true…?”

“No, I don’t know… it should be impossible. First of all, June was with me when it’s supposedly happened. And I checked afterwards, but none of the security systems had been breached and none of the hidden intrusion warnings I put in it had been activated. But I still can’t believe she would lie to me about it though… It’s really frustrating. I don’t know what to make of it.”

“Why didn’t she check it herself before running around with accusations if she has a hacker warning system installed?”

“Well, she doesn’t exactly know I set it up…”

“What,  _ you _ hacked her…?” 

“I only did it once to give her a… message… but her security was so lousy I had to do something about it. I guess I should have told her, but I didn’t want to freak her out…”

“Great, so if she thinks her computer was hacked, and you can prove it wasn’t Juno, then she’ll come after me next, I swear…”

“I’ll back you up. I know you couldn’t possibly have gotten past my system unnoticed…” Alex smirked.

“Geez, thanks…”

“What, do you want me do believe you did it..?”

“No, don’t be an idiot. I would just like you to think that I could if I wanted to… I wouldn’t be stupid enough to go near anyone under your protection. Besides, what could she possibly have there that I want? Ten manicure tips? Or maybe some love poems written for you…” Liz scorned.

Ellen was raging mad when she caught up with Viola again. So Alex had known, or thought he knew, nobody could hack her computer because he setup some kind of system he thought was fool proof? Well, it wasn’t, obviously. Somehow, Ellen believed Liz didn’t do it. She hadn’t sounded guilty at all nor was her heart rate affected when she said it. And besides, Alex probably knew enough about her hacker skills to know what she could do and not. But what the hell did he really know about JunoX? He had said himself that she had been able to get past his blocks when they did that challenge. Was it so impossible she could have done it unnoticed, in ten minutes? Or perhaps she had done it before they even met? 

*

Ellen didn’t mean to stalk Alex. She really, truly didn’t. Not that she wasn’t still a bit upset about his supposed not-date with June, but she knew she had no right to interfere, and she tried to respect that. Even if all her senses screamed that the girl was up to no good at all. She had accepted his wish for them to be just friends, and even if it hurt her that he seemed to have met someone else, she had no real reason to be angry. It didn’t stop her heart from being torn into a million pieces when she walked into the bar at Campus and saw them in a tight lip lock though. He would probably think she had followed him there on purpose, but that wasn’t the case at all. If he confronted her about it, she had witnesses, she reasoned. It was Holly who had asked her to meet up with the girls at this exact time and place, obviously unaware of Alex and his date. And she had accepted, although she only felt like going to bed and sleeping for a week. No, she hadn’t wanted to let Alex get to her. I can still have fun with my friends, she had convinced herself. And as a reward for her attempts to stay on her feet, the obnoxious rulers of the universe obviously thought she deserved to see the man she loved kiss another woman instead. Great. 

At first, she didn’t even cry. She only felt her stomach drop and her insides freeze. She swallowed hard and turned around on the spot to run out of the place. She didn’t even know if Alex had seen her at first, but she heard him curse and call her name the second she walked out the door. Well, she wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of seeing her like this. Not that she thought, deep down, that he would actually be satisfied to. He may or may not have fallen in love with another girl, and he was probably still mad at Ellen, but he wasn’t a sadist. Right now, though, what she knew deep down was drowned in pain as an odd numbness spread throughout her body. She thought she heard footsteps running towards the exit, and she glanced around quickly and sped away across the lawn and into the shadows of some trees on the other side of it before anyone could see her. There, she sunk down to the ground, leaned against a stem, and tried to stop the tears from coming.

Instantly, her phone rang. Twice. Alex. She didn’t pick up. 

“Well, you can go to hell…” she told the phone, still without picking up when it rang the third time “...I’ve waited patiently for you to snap out of your fear of commitment for months, and the moment some cool hacker girl bats her eyelashes at you, you suddenly choose to…” she continued scolding him, without his knowledge, between her tears and finally the damn phone stopped ringing and she just caved in and cried with her arms wrapped around her knees. 

“Hey, are you ok…?” A voice suddenly came out of the shadows. It was a female voice. Vaguely familiar. Ellen looked up, and saw the form of a girl standing a bit away in the shadows. She sounded like she really cared, but she didn’t come any closer. Ellen tried to focus on her, but she only took a step back. She had sunglasses on, Ellen noticed. That was odd, seeing that it was in the middle of the night, after all…

“No, not really… but I’ll live…” Ellen said. Stupid question, stupid answer, she thought. 

“Look, I’m sorry for interfering… I shouldn’t even be talking to you… It could be dangerous. But I saw the look on your face when you saw Juno kiss Alex. And I happen to know a thing or two about her. Don’t fall for it… She probably manipulated him somehow. She’s trouble. She could even be dangerous…”

“You know her?” Ellen said surprised.

“Unfortunately... “ the girl answered. “But I can’t tell you more. I’m sorry. I’m not supposed to say anything to you…” 

“Says who?” Ellen tried to confront her.

“Can’t tell you… but look, don’t give up on him, ok? I saw the look on his face too when you ran out. He was miserable. I think he really loves you…Please, believe me… And be careful with Juno, ok?” the girl said, and when Ellen looked up to protest, she was gone. Like if she had dissolved into nothingness. Perhaps it was a mirage… her mind wanting to believe she still had a chance with Alex? She knew of nobody but herself and a few others who could disappear like that. And this had not been an acquaintance of hers, that she was sure of.

The confusion made her forget to cry for a moment, but then she saw a text from Alex.

_ Can we pls talk? It’s not what you think…. _

Yeah, right. Ellen snorted. It’s not what you think… right up there in line with “it’s not you, it’s me…” when it comes to stupid things to say to reject someone who’s in love with you. No, she didn’t care about the odd warning from the even odder girl in the shadows at the moment. She didn’t want to talk…

_ I don’t care what it is Alex. You don’t have to explain yourself to me. I’m your friend, not your keeper. Or your jealous girlfriend. So go right ahead and kiss whoever you want.  _

_ But that’s just it… I didn’t. Will you pls just let me explain?  _

He was begging again. Why was he begging? He always did this. He turned her down, but expected her to just swallow it and remain his faithful friend. Perhaps he just wanted her to keep her hopes up, so he could have her as a back-up plan… well, screw him...

_ Sorry, not in the mood to talk at the moment  _ she wrote back and then she ran home, super speed, crept under her covers and shut down her phone. 

*

Leo walked into the café on his way home from Campus the next day, and was a bit surprised to see Alex behind the counter, cleaning the espresso machine.

“Hey, Alex… are you working tonight? I thought you were going with us to the club opening?”

“Yeah, sorry. I’m going to have to pass. We had three of the staff call in sick, so I had to take a shift…”

“But you can swing by later, right? When do you close?”

“I don’t know… I think your night will be smoother if I don’t show actually…” Alex mumbled, sounding a bit annoyed.

“What happened? Is it Ellen?” Leo guessed. Not that it was hard to guess, anyway. There was nobody else who could possibly get to Alex like that. And now that he thought about it, Ellen had been in a lousy mood all day. She had hardly even eaten lunch when they met up in the cafeteria, and that was very unusual behaviour for Ellen. 

“Yeah, she’s mad at me… I don’t really want to talk about it…” Alex mumbled.

“Ok, if you say so man… but I’m sure she will forget about it if you show up. She has a lot of temper, but she usually doesn’t hold a grudge…”

“I don’t know… I think I really hurt her. But I didn’t mean to, I swear. It wasn’t even my fault, but she won’t listen.” Alex grunted while he took care of Leo’s order, but then he sighed and smacked the take away mug down in front of him. “You know, I don’t think I will ever get women… Or at least not some women. It’s just so goddamn annoying…” he muttered, clearly frustrated. 

Leo had to bite back a smile. It was rare that Alex showed any temperament at all. This was probably his version of raging fury. 

“So, is she mad at you or is it you who are really mad at her…?” he asked with a knowing smirk.

“Both, I guess…” he muttered, a bit flushed at being caught. “You know, she’s just being completely irrational. And she won’t even let me explain. Not that I really owe her an explanation, but still… I don’t want to hurt her either. But how am I supposed to avoid that when she jumps to conclusions all the time?” 

“So do you want to tell me what happened?”

“She didn’t tell you?”

“Nope, not a word. But she’s been moping all day, so I don’t doubt your theory that you may have hurt her somehow…”

“Ok, so you know I met up with this girl I met online? We’ve been chatting for a while, and I was really a bit starstruck that she talked to me, to tell you the truth… She’s a wicked Battleground player, she beat the crap out of me at the phantom quest at the MetGamersCon a couple of weeks ago. She came out of nowhere and owned it completely. I mean, she didn’t only win the quest, she completely crushed all the competition… I’ve never seen anything like that. She’s so cool…”

“So, Ellen was mad about it?”

“I don’t know… at first, she seemed curious, but then she started to act all jealous and she’s been bugging me about chatting with her. Like she was accusing me of being interested in her and she also started throwing suspicions around that there was something fishy about her and accused June of hacking her computer, only it couldn’t have been her. Why would it be so impossible for someone to be interested in talking to me? And why does she have to assume there is something romantic going on? I just envy her wicked gamer skills, I don’t even care that she’s a girl… really. But Ellen wouldn’t hear it. “ Alex made a brief pause and considered how much he should really tell her cousin. But he had been fuming over this for days, and now that he got going, he couldn’t really stop himself. “You know, this is exactly why I don’t want to have a girlfriend. I want to be able to talk to whoever I want, without having to explain myself…” he sighed.

“Yeah, but you don’t, really… Have to explain yourself, I mean. Did she ask you to?” Leo argued.

“No, not exactly... but… I mean. I still don’t want her to get the wrong idea about June…” Alex mumbled, a bit ashamed. He had the distinct feeling he had painted himself into a corner.

“So, the problem is not really whether or not she is your girlfriend, the problem is that you actually do care about her. And that’s not really her fault, right?” Leo said smugly, but Alex just shot him a furious glare. “So just tell her nothing is going on between you and this gamer girl...”

“Yeah, the only problem is that she kind of saw us kissing… but it wasn’t my fault. June caught me off guard. It’s not like I asked for it… but Ellen saw it and ran out, I tried to go after her, but she was gone. Like if she just disintegrated into thin air. I don’t know. I tried to call her and text her too, but she won’t talk to me. And now June won’t talk to me either. She got furious when I said I didn’t feel that way about her, and now she’s completely gone. Like she fell off the grid or something. I can’t even find her avatar online anymore. It’s really odd, actually… I can’t believe that would have anything to do with me though. I mean, I only knew her for a couple of weeks.”

“Yeah, that’s odd… what was her name again?”

“Her gamertag was JunoX - she said her real name was June but I’m not even sure that was true. Not that I really care, but it’s annoying. She had promised to share some of her secrets with me, but apparently that came with a price tag… What is it with girls? So annoying…” he huffed.

“Don’t worry. Ellen will get over it… Why don’t you come tonight and talk to her?” Leo insisted.

“I don’t know Leo, I think I will go for a run instead. I need to work some of this frustration off, or I will just end up fighting with her again. As much as I don’t want to hurt her, it actually still annoys me that she was so suspicious about June…”

“But she was kinda right in one way… Even if you didn’t see it as something romantic, obviously June did.”

“Yeah, ok. But it’s not like that makes her evil, right? Ellen acted like she thought June was up to something suspicious, I don’t know. Women….” he huffed again, and Leo didn’t think it would do much good to object at the moment. 

*

When Leo got back to the apartment, the others were getting ready to go out for dinner before the club, but Ellen didn’t want to come, and for some reason she didn’t want to tell anyone why. Leo decided not to tell the others, but he felt like he couldn’t just leave her alone, so he lied and said he had to talk to his parents about something and told the others he would come after them.

“Hey, Ellen. Can we talk?” Leo knocked on her door.

“What is it? I’m just not in the mood…”

“I know, and I also know why… but I have some information about that, if you would hear me out…”

In the end, curiosity got the better out of Ellen, and she reluctantly came out of her bedroom to hear what Leo had to say. He told her about his conversation with Alex. Or, about parts of it anyway. He didn’t want to upset Ellen by telling her that Alex was actually indeed a bit pissed at her. 

Ellen was relieved to hear that the kiss hadn’t been anything Alex had initiated, or even appreciated. But she still felt a bit betrayed that he wouldn’t listen to her regarding June. She was sure the gamer girl was up to no good. There was just something about her. The way she seemed obsessed with Alex, and some of the things she had said in the chat Ellen had read. And there was also the warning from the girl in the shadows… She told Leo about her suspicions, and he agreed there was something odd going on. Also, the fact that Alex told him JunoX had disappeared from the community after their date, or non-date, depending on who you asked.

“Ok, so she appears out of nowhere to completely dominate Battleground Empyreon, Alex’s favo rite game, right. Then she seemingly follows him around, knows everything about him, promises him gaming tips and tries to kiss him, gets furious when he doesn’t want that and disappears into nothing.”

“Yeah, not to mention the way she was looking at me. You should have seen it Leo! Alex thinks I’m making it up because I’m jealous, but it was like if she hated me right from the start. But there’s no way she could know about Alex’s feelings for me, even if he actually has them. Or even know who I was unless she has somehow stalked him before she met him.”

“So what do you think she wants? Even if she was stalking him, why? Let’s say she developed some romantic feelings for him, but she didn’t even know him when they started chatting, right?” Leo speculated. He did agree it was suspicious, but he couldn’t really understand what this was all about

“I don’t know… I guess you could fall in love with someone online? Or think that you do? I have no idea.”

“Yeah, but how would she even know he’s a guy? It’s not like you can tell from his tag if you don’t know him…”

“I know. But still… You know, as much as I’m mad at him right now, I’m also a bit worried. I have a bad feeling… and I got a warning too, I can’t even tell you about it, but that was even stranger than all the rest put together…”

“Ok, I believe you. So what do we do?”

“Can we dig a little in the community? Like where she came from and when she showed up? I’m not much of a hacker, but maybe you can get in…?” Ellen suggested.

“Sure, we’ll check it out right away…” Leo agreed. 

Ellen was really grateful. Leo could seem a bit like a partying player sometimes, and lately he had been a bit wrapped up in his relationship with Holly. But when it came right down to it, he was a really good friend and she knew he was also a smart person. He wasn’t enough of a hacker though it tuned out. He didn’t manage to dig up anything. Just like Alex had said, it was as if this JunoX had never existed. 

“I have to go now if I want to be able to make it to the grand opening…” Leo concluded after a while of no further results. “...sure you don’t want to come? Alex won’t be there anyway… he said he’ll pass and go for a run instead.” he tried to convince Ellen but she still didn’t feel like it. 

“Sorry, I’m not really in the mood. Perhaps later… I just can’t get this out of my head. Do you think I should ask Chloe? I really have a bad feeling…” she suggested

“Sure, call her. I think she’s on League duty today anyway, so unless there’s some other immediate crisis, I’m sure she’ll help you out.” Leo said, and went to catch up with the others after promising Ellen to look after Viola a bit. She felt a sting of bad conscious for her friend, she knew Vi had been counting on her now that Cal was out of town. But she would understand…

Chloe, it turned out, was intrigued by the events. She was actually the first one to really agree with Ellen that something weird was going on. And she always loved a hacker challenge… She got back to Ellen after only an hour with some alarming news indeed. It turned out there was no trace of the existence of a real person behind the tag JunoX, even if Chloe managed to dig up some stuff on her virtual existence. She had indeed only been around for two weeks, but had managed to create, and later erase, a faked version of her digital history that went back longer. Chloe could also confirm that she was the one who had been breaking in to Ellen’s computer, but she said it was beyond anything she had ever seen, which made her suspicious. There was no way this June-character was a normal, human being from our timeline and universe, she said. Her guess was that she was either metahuman or cyborg with some kind of digital skills, from a parallel earth or perhaps from the future. Ellen had a moment of weirdness before she accepted all of these as plausible theories. Sometimes, Ellen really wished their lives were simpler.

What Juno wanted with Alex, Chloe had no idea, but she could see that she had indeed been digging into him.

“I don’t want to scare you Ellen, but I have a bad feeling about this. The way she erased all traces of herself after not getting what she wanted from Alex. I don’t know what it was, but I can’t imagine she went through all this trouble only to seduce him. My guess is that was part of the strategy, and when it failed, she might take other measures to get whatever she wants.”

“Other measures? Like… you mean… she could hurt him?” Ellen asked, suddenly getting the feeling of her insides freezing for a different reason than jealousy.

“I don’t know Ellen. Maybe I’m being paranoid. But I’ve seen many things in my days with the League, and I get this feeling… I know you’re still mad at him, but I think you should at least talk to him again. Perhaps he’s more prone to see things your way after her odd behaviour?”

“Oh, God Chloe… what if something happens to him…. I have to find him.”

As soon as she hung up the phone, she saw Holly had tried to call her. Several times. Well, she would have to wait. Ellen had other, more pressing matters than the club opening, on her mind.

*

The wind was still chilly, and a light rain had started falling on this spring evening, but Alex didn’t mind. In fact, he had always liked bad weather. Rain, storms and thunder. Somehow, feeling the power of the elements whip his face was a refreshing contrast to all of the time he spent in front of his computer. It made him feel insignificant, and human, in a way that always gave him perspective. Right now, he was thinking about Ellen while his feet hit the ground in a rhythmic drumming of one hundred eighty beats per minute, the ideal pace for long distance running. With the wind tearing through his hair and the rain lashing against his face, their fight seemed so stupid. Why had he been so triggered by her grudge against June? And why had she been so upset in the first place? Sure, Leo had a point. Ellen had at least partly been right about her, but Alex still felt she had been a bit unreasonable, everything considered. It wasn’t like June had been pure evil just because she was coming on to him, right?

He had to admit he was really mad at June too, though. Or disappointed. He had hoped for her help, and believed in her and her friendship. But it was obviously all or nothing with her. At least Ellen had agreed to be his friend. Women… he felt the frustration grow although he was working hard on letting the feelings go and just focus on the way his feet were hitting the muddy ground. It usually worked so well, but today he was obviously really unbalanced. 

Alex was running around the lake, and he had just passed the more crowded areas by the park and around the beach, now coming in to the more deserted part of the running track. He hadn’t more than finished his thought about June when he saw her familiar shape standing by the side of the track, only a little bit ahead of him. He didn’t exactly get scared, but he felt a bit uneasy. What did she want, all of a sudden, when she had been avoiding him since the day before? And how had she known where he was? He slowed down as he got closer and stopped at what he considered to be a safe distance to wipe the sweat and rain from his face on his t-shirt. 

“Hi… What are you doing here?” he asked her in what he hoped was a friendly tone, but he knew it had a hint of uncertainty in it. 

“I’m sorry Alex… I didn’t want it to come to this…”

“To what?”

“I never meant to hurt you… You are still my idol in a way you know…” 

“What do you mean hurt me… you didn’t really hurt me. I thought I was the one hurting you…?” he asked confused.

“Oh, you did…? Sorry, Alex. Seducing you was only part of my plan, but since it didn’t work so well I have to get rid of you instead. I was too late… So…. this is the only way. I’m sorry…” she said, and Alex saw with growing anxiety how her face went cold and she pulled out some kind of weapon from her pocket, aiming it right at his chest. It didn’t look like a normal gun, exactly. Not that Alex knew the first thing about weapons anyway. And he didn’t really have time to think much about it either. His brain was frozen between the idea of running and trying to talk to her. He calculated his chances of running away as rather small…

“What do you mean June… Why is it the only way? I’m sure we can work something out…” he said and held up his hands while he tried to talk in a calm voice. He was kind of proud of himself for not freaking out completely, but his heart still raced underneath the surface. He felt all but calm, even if he managed to keep his voice reasonably steady. 

“No, I don’t think so Alex. I don’t know how I got it wrong, but you were already in love with her… and I won’t get a second chance… Now I won’t ever be able to trust that you would do the only thing I want you to do so I have to make sure you don’t… Never mind. Sorry…” she said and aimed her gun again, starting to pull the trigger.

Alex saw his life pass before his eyes, just like they do in movies. It was true, it actually happens.  _ Interesting… _ was the last thing he registered before he felt something hard hit him in the side. 

*

Ellen was running along the track by the lake. She had already searched the whole way from his house, to the cafe, and the running track in the park. Alex was nowhere to be found, and she was getting worried. Would he really be running all the way around the lake this late in the evening, and in the rain and wind? He must really be upset… She tried to listen in on the sounds of the trees and the lake and look for heartbeats or voices out of the ordinary. But there were just too many people all around. She had to superspeed around the lake and look… She tried to find a good spot to disappear unnoticed, and when she came to the closed down restaurant by the beach, she snuck in between two of the buildings and glanced around. She was pretty sure nobody saw her standing there, so she took off running at maximum speed, that way any witnesses would only be noticing a passing blur. She went counter clockwise around the lake, but it still only took her two seconds to spot Alex in the light under a street lamp, holding up his hands in defeat. A millisecond later she noticed Juno pulling the trigger to some weird looking gun and she didn’t stop to ask questions, or to bother about being seen. Instead, she flung herself against Alex, pushing him to the ground on the side of the track, with a little too much force. But it had to be better than getting shot, right?

“Aouch, what the hell…?” she gasped in surprise as a weird blue beam of light hit her side, creating a wound that was bleeding quite heavily, but that instantly started to close up again. Shit. What was that thing she had? Ellen instantly realized this could be more dangerous than she had calculated. And if the crazy bitch took her down, Alex would be next. She couldn’t risk it… While she dodged the next ray of light, by jumping quickly to the side, she screamed loud enough for her dad to hear. She hoped he was in Metropolis. But there was no time to wait, instead she jumped up, too quick for June to be able to follow with her aim, landed on the other side of her and tried to over power her and grab the gun. That’s when she noticed her powers were gone and June took her by surprise and managed to wrestle herself free. Ellen sent a silent thank you to her mother for all the blue k training they had had to go through, when she managed to push the gun away and sweep her legs, making her fall flat on the ground. Ellen got control of the gun and threw it as far as she could with only her human strength, but it was enough. She felt her powers return, and she held June in an iron grip fighting the urge to really hurt the girl.

“If he’s hurt, I swear to God I will kill you…” she hissed between her teeth. But June just laughed a crazy laugh at her.

“I didn’t think your kind worked that way… what would daddy say if you went about killing people just because you screwed up and knocked out your boyfriend..?” she scolded Ellen, who felt her insides freeze. She knew. So, evidently, she had seen Ellen use her powers, but how could she know where they came from? 

“Why Alex?” she ignored the barb and tried to get her to talk instead.

“I would gladly have killed you if I had thought I could… But I’ve made the mistake of going after your kind before, so it’s all your fault I had to get him out of the way instead…”

“But what did we ever do to you, bitch? Even if Alex actually has feelings for me, is it really worth killing someone over…?”

“Oh, you thought this was about feelings..? Sorry, I think you confuse me for someone with a heart…” she mocked Ellen again.

“So what the hell _ is _ this about…?” she yelled at the girl, but before she could answer, Superman landed at her side, taking in the scene. 

“Hold her, but watch out. Don’t go near her weapon thing…” Ellen yelled and ran for where Alex was just starting to stir on the ground. “I think whatever it shoots has blue k in it…” she added under her breath only loud enough for her father to hear. Not that there was much doubt that Juno knew exactly who they were and what the gun did, but still… she was too well drilled not to scream things like that out loud. 

*

_ Am I dead? I don’t feel dead… It wouldn’t hurt that much...right?  _ was what Alex thought when he regained his consciousness. What had happened? June had pointed the gun at him, and then… he had been knocked to the ground somehow? He heard two angry female voices that he recognized, arguing. One was June, but she sounded much colder than usual. The other was...Ellen? What was she doing here? Had she knocked him out of the way? She screamed something at June, but then there was this whooshing sound, and Ellen told someone else to hold June, but watch out for her gun. He blinked a few times, and saw the contours of someone big, dressed mainly in blue and red, bending down to pull another figure from the ground. Superman? But then he only felt Ellen’s arms as she flung herself into his embrace.

“Alex! Are you ok…?” she exclaimed with a worried voice, and hugged him, but pulled away to study him closer.

“I… I think so…” he stuttered.

Superman gave him a piercing once over, using his x-ray vision and nodded.

“Nothing is broken or bleeding, he’ll be fine. I have to take her away” he said with a meaning glance at the furious June “I’ll send someone for the gun. Don’t touch it….” he added and took off in a woosh. Alex was a bit awed at seeing him fly off, after all, it was not something you saw every day. Ellen, however, seemed to hardly have noticed him. Her only concern was Alex, and now tears of relief were streaming down her face.

“Oh Alex, I thought you were…” she locked her piercing blue gaze on his brown eyes and they were both lost for words for a couple of seconds. Once Superman was off, and Alex saw her tears, the realization of what almost happened dawned on him too. What if Ellen would have been hurt. His head was spinning, how was she not hurt? How did she even get here? Somewhere in his state of confusion, fear and the dizziness of the adrenaline draining from his body, the walls of defense he had so carefully rebuilt to protect himself from the feelings he had for Ellen came crumbling down again. Suddenly the only thing he could see was her wondrous eyes, and her soft, lush, pink lips. Somehow, he was drawn to them like a magnet, and suddenly, it happened again. He was kissing Ellen.  _ Crap… _

“I’m sorry… I didn’t mean to...” he said as he regained control over his brain and pulled away. 

“Oh, for fuck’s sake Alex… don’t do this again…” Ellen sputtered and sighed, pulling at her hair and rolling her eyes dramatically at the sky.

“Yeah, I’m really sorry… I lost my head. I shouldn't have...”

“You know, you seem to have very little control about where you put your own lips lately…” she snapped, the rage building up once more. 

“That was not the same thing, and you know it… She ambushed me... Please, stop biting my head off...”

“Yeah, but it turned out I was right about June, huh? But you don’t like to hear that you are wrong, do you…?” 

“I know you were right, but there was no way I could have known…”

“Perhaps not, but you could have trusted me, instead of some girl you had known for like two seconds...” 

“Maybe I would have if you had acted a bit more rational…” he scoffed. Naturally, he knew she was right, of course. But he still had no idea how she could have known. 

“Rational…!?” Ellen was on the verge of completely exploding. 

“Yeah, you never even told me why you were suspicious, you just came barging in like…like... And I don’t know how you even knew I was at that bar, or that I was here...? Were you following me around?” he said, rambling a bit incoherently, voice a bit too high pitched. He didn’t even know why he was angry with her at the moment. But it was probably because she was right… 

Ellen was so furious she didn’t even scream at him. She lowered her voice, but it was cold and shaking with wrath when she answered after a couple of deep breaths. 

“For your information, Holly had asked me to meet her at the bar. I had no idea you would be there. Tonight, I knew you would be running, because Leo told me. And he got suspicious when you said she had vanished from the grid, so we did some digging and he pulled some strings. When we found out she had indeed been stalking you, I came to warn you. But perhaps I should have just let her shoot you instead…? “ she said, and Alex knew he had messed up.

“I’m sorry Ellen… I… I was out of line. I’m really glad you came. I just got so scared… and you could have been hurt too….” he started rambling.

“If you say so, Alex, but you really don’t act like if I mattered much to you right now…” she said, tears starting to pool in her eyes again. Alex opened his mouth to respond, but she held up her hand and interrupted him. “I’m sorry Alex. I’m glad you are ok, but I think we shouldn’t see each other for a while… I can’t do this anymore. You keep saying we should be friends, but you obviously don’t even trust me. You accused me of acting like a jealous girlfriend. But I think it is you who are treating me like one. And it’s not fair. Bye Alex...”

“Ellen, please…” he started, but he knew it was no use to argue with her at the moment. 

  
  


*

“Thanks for coming, she won’t talk… We’ve tried everything..” Clark sighed when Diana came in through the doors at Watchtower. He had picked up Chloe from Star City and they had spent the last hour interrogating the hacker girl, but they had no luck. Chloe was really curious about her and her seemingly unnatural skills, and Clark wanted to know why she had been after Ellen and Alex. But she didn’t speak a word.

“Okay then, let’s get this over with…” Diana said, and wielded the lasso of truth, ensnaring Juno in its embrace.. 

“Wait…” Chloe said. “I think we should do this without you…” she said turning to Clark.

“Why…?” he asked, curiously.

“I don’t know… I have a hunch…” she muttered, and he shrugged but accepted her request. He had no idea why, but if Chloe thought it was for the best… She had been more involved in this case, after all, and he had learned not to question her gut feeling a long time ago.

“Soo… who are you…?”

“My name is Juno Xavier and I’ve travelled back in time to stop…” she started, but Chloe interrupted her and shouted.

“Quiet, you can’t tell us anything about the future…” she said and thought for a while. The more the girl told them, the worse she could damage the timeline. But what if she had changed something?

“Was your mission successful?” Chloe asked.

“No”

“So, you have changed nothing in our timeline…?”

“I don’t know… I wanted to stop them from meeting, but I was too late. I didn’t mean to hurt him, but I couldn’t get to her...”

“Quiet…” Diana snapped. They were all aware of the dangers of knowing too much about the future.

“How did you get here…?” she asked and the girl pulled out a legion ring out of a secret pocket. It must have been lined with lead, because Clark had x-rayed her without finding anything suspicious.

“Are you a part of the Legion?”

“No, I stole it from…” she started and Diana hushed her again and unleashed her from the lasso. It was too dangerous. She wouldn’t shut up…

“So we’ll have to call for the Legion and have her sent back…” Diana contemplated and Chloe nodded. She was curious, she really was. It was like she had one half of a secret message, and she thought she could sort of guess what it was about. But she couldn’t be sure. And she mustn’t try to find out. The only question Chloe wanted answered was why she hadn’t wanted to hurt Alex. Was he on the wrong side in the future? She wasn’t supposed to ask, but now that she had the suspicion, how could she not treat him differently anyway?

She asked for the lasso again and thought about her question carefully.

“I don’t want you to tell me anything about Alex’s future or anyone else’s, except one thing. Is the reason that you didn’t want to hurt him that he’s on your side?”

“No, he’s on your side, sadly… but he has fans on both…” she said before Chloe could get her to shut up again. 

Ok, so that was mysterious…

“I’ll summon the Legion before she reveals something else…” Chloe said and Diana nodded.

*

“Alexander Leigh?” Alex turned around from where he stood behind the counter at the café, a bit surprised to hear his full name. Not many people knew he was actually named Alexander. He had always preferred Alex, and never introduced himself as anything else. He had even managed to get registered as Alex at the university. 

“How can I help you?” he asked the pretty young girl looking at him from behind a pair of dark sunglasses. She was a couple of inches shorter than him, and had about the same chocolate brown hair color as his, but her hair was completely straight. He couldn’t tell what it was, but there was something familiar about her. He reminded him a little bit about Ellen, actually, come to think of it. But before he could ponder that further, she spoke again.

“I know you don’t know me, and I can’t tell you much about who I am. But I am a friend, and I really, really need your help. Please, I don’t know where else to turn. I’ve tried every other way, but I’m out of ideas. It could be dangerous for me to speak to the wrong people. ”

Alex eyed her suspiciously; he had just had enough of mysterious girls stalking him for a lifetime. It was only a couple of days ago that the last one tried to kill him...

“I promise you, I mean you no harm. I know you must be suspicious after Juno, but let’s just say she has been after me too and even if she’s gone now, she will succeed with her plan if I can’t get some help.”

“What do you know about June? Juno… Why did she want to kill me? And why can’t you tell me more about yourself?” he asked, still not convinced.

“I might be able to tell you soon. But there is a person I need to find first. Let’s just say I am from a different place, entirely. And I’m not supposed to be here… If I screw up, I can seriously risk damaging the future of a whole lot of people. Sorry for being so mysterious… Is there any way I can get you to trust me without knowing more?”

Alex looked at her for a long time. His gut feeling was that he could trust this girl. And he really felt an urge to help her. But he didn’t give much for feelings or urges. He was more of a cold, hard facts kind of guy. And he found it suspicious that she was wearing those shades. What was she hiding?

“Will you at least take those sunglasses off?”

“Ok… but don’t freak, all right?” she said.

She took her sunglasses off, and he stared into a pair of large, azur blue, eyes and he felt his heart skip a beat in surprise. That intense color was really not something you saw every day. And the shape was just the same too.

“Oh… your eyes… you look just like…” he started, but she interrupted her.

“Yeah, I know… We are related, ok? But you can absolutely not tell her that I’m here. The less she knows about me, the better…”

“So, who are you? I didn’t know she had any other close relatives…”

“She doesn’t know about me either, that’s why it’s important my identity stays hidden… Sorry. But I’m a friend. Believe me. This is for her too, you’ll be helping her as well…”

“Ok, so tell me who you need to find…?” Alex said cautiously. It wouldn’t hurt to at least hear what she needed, right? And it wasn’t like he could ever resist those eyes anyway…even if he was still a bit upset with Ellen. They weren’t exactly talking right now, and he was terrified he had screwed up their friendship for good. But this made him want to help the girl with her eyes even more, for some reason. Like if he could fix things with Ellen by doing it... And he was intrigued, to say the least. The girl didn’t seem much younger than himself. Perhaps a couple of years. Did Ellen and Cal have a sister they didn’t know about? Or a cousin? But she looked too much like Ellen to be a cousin, really. But if she was somehow related to them, she was probably on their side. Right?

“I need to find a person called John Jones. I think he works with Metropolis PD, but I’m not completely sure. If he doesn’t, maybe Lois Lane can help me, but I only want to talk to her if it’s absolutely necessary. The less she knows about that I’m here, the better too…”

“Ok, I can help you find this person. I guess it won’t hurt…”

“Thank you… it means a lot to me! I’ll come by your house later, I can’t be seen here…” she said and took off before Alex could ask how she knew where he lived. But then again, she had known his full name… he sighed and got back to his work. What was it with him and mysterious girls stalking him lately? He knew he should probably be scared, but he wasn’t, oddly enough. It had to be that treacherous hunch he had that she could be trusted. He only hoped his gut feeling didn’t end up getting him killed this time since it hadn’t really warned him about June…

*

Alex was just taking a frozen wok meal out of the microwave when the doorbell rang. His dad wasn’t home tonight and he hadn’t bothered with cooking. He let the girl, who he still didn’t know what to call, in and asked her if she was hungry.

“Oh, I can always eat… I mean, if you have something ready, I don’t want you to go through any trouble.”

“I’m not much of a cook I’m afraid, but we have some frozen dinners I can put in the microwave if you want…”

“That would actually be great. Sorry for the intrusion, but I haven’t eaten anything today…” 

Alex noticed that she chose a vegan meal too, and he heated it up for her and beckoned for her to follow him down into the basement.

“My room is downstairs…”

“What, in the basement? Really?” she asked, with a surprised chuckle. This seemed to amuse her, for some reason…

“Yeah, I share the house with my dad. That way I can get some privacy...” he answered.

“Oh, your dad…” Her big blue eyes widened to become even larger, like if that was something completely unexpected. “Is he home? I don’t remember him…” she zoned out for a minute, but composed herself. “I mean, why should I, right? I don’t know why I said that…”

“No, he’s at some fair looking into a new line of products for Carla's … I’m guessing you know we own it since you seem to know all about me, somehow…” he said, matter-of-factly and her lips twitched a bit.

“You are funny… Oh, well. It’s probably for the best anyway…” she sighed. 

Alex couldn’t find anything on the official web of Metropolis PD, sadly, and he suddenly felt a bit awkward. Not that he minded a challenge, he was just hoping this mystery girl wasn’t using his hacker skills to get in to their servers for some other reason.

“You know, I have to confess that hacking the Met PD makes me feel a bit uneasy… I don’t really want to get involved into anything illegal…” he said a bit uncertainty.

“Wow, who would have known the infamous XanLei would hesitate to hack into anything…” she snorted with laughter but seemed to change her mind again when she saw his frown. Not that he was surprised that she knew his virtual identity, but it only made his suspicions stronger. And since when was he so infamous anyway? Sure, he had done a bit of hacking in his days, but nothing that impressive. At least not that anyone knew of… 

“Look, sorry. I can’t seem to shut up… Let me assure you it’s nothing illegal. And I can do it myself if you’ll let me use your laptop… I can promise you it won’t be possible to trace back to you. They won’t even know we were there… I just need to know if he works there and how I can contact him.”

“So, why did you need me in the first place if you’re such a skilled hacker yourself…?”

“Well, let’s just say I don’t have access to any equipment at the moment… And my programs are a bit different, so you might have to show me some of the basics...”

“But you could have asked anyone with a decent set of computers?”

“Yeah, but I don’t know anybody here, and you are one of the few I can trust, whom I knew how to find anyway. Please, don’t make me say more… Maybe I can show you a trick or two of my own...” she tried to allure him. 

Alex couldn’t help it. He never did have the power to resist someone showing him new things when it came to computers or gaming. Only, that curiosity only recently got him into trouble… 

But nope, he still couldn’t resist. He watched in awe as the girl seemingly effortlessly broke in to the Metropolis PD database. Luckily, she found what she came for and didn’t seem to do anything else suspicious. And she did cover her tracks, teaching him a couple of things as she did it, he had to give her that.

“Wow, that was actually quite impressive…” he nodded when she turned off his computer.

“Thanks… my dad taught me some tricks, he’s the best…” she said with a funny expression Alex couldn’t really interpret. 

*

Alex still felt a bit uneasy when the mystery girl left the house, telling him she might be back later and explain things to him, but when she showed up in the café the day after, she shrugged apologetically.

“I’m sorry Alex, I got the help I needed from Mr Jones, but he didn’t think I should tell you more than I already did, I thought he would be able to... well… Anyway, it means the world to me that you trusted me!”

“I don’t know, I just got the feeling I could… And anyone who is the enemy of June is my friend right now. But you still can’t even tell me your name?”

“Sorry, I can’t. Like I said, I’m not supposed to be here, and I’m scared I will interfere too much with things if I tell you more… The best thing would be for you to forget all about that I was ever here. At least, never tell anyone, ok?” 

“So I won’t see you again, right?” Alex asked. He couldn’t tell why, but he somehow felt a connection to the mysterious girl. Not romantically, not at all what he felt for Ellen. But still. There was something about her… Perhaps it was because she had Ellen’s eyes, but he had this nagging feeling it was something else.”

“I really truly hope you will… but not for many years…” she said mysteriously.

“Hm….” Alex looked at her with narrow eyes, trying to figure her out.

“There is one thing I would like to ask of you before I leave though… I’m sorry that I can’t tell you who Juno was either, but John said I can tell you that her mission was to get between you and Ellen, sort of for revenge on Ellen or something similar. And she was a master manipulator… so... please don’t let her succeed. Try not to treat Ellen any other way than you would have if Juno hadn’t stuck her ugly little nose into your business or if you had ever met me. Please…” The girl was pleading with Alex, and he could see that she had tears in her eyes, even behind the shades. 

“Ok, I’ll do my best… but I don’t understand why it’s so important to you that I stay friends with Ellen, really?”

“Let’s just say that my life could depend on it…” she gave him a faint little smile and a kiss on the cheek before she turned and walked out of the café. 

*

Alex lay awake for many hours that night thinking about both Ellen and the mystery girl. There was something about the way she had pleaded with him… He thought about what things would be like if she or Juno hadn’t shown up in their lives at all. He wouldn’t have had that ugly fight with Ellen, and she also wouldn’t have saved his life. Where would that leave them? As friends again, just like before? Or something more? It was impossible to say. But he was determined to fix this now, and not only because of the mystery girl. He really didn’t want to lose Ellen. Sure, the last days had shown, as Leo had pointed out to him, that they were more than friends somehow. He cared about her, about what she thought about him and his relationship to others. He had been terrified that he would lose her forever when she had seen him and Juno kissing. And from her reaction, it was clear she still had feelings for him too. He had to do something to save their friendship… He took up his computer and opened the chat they always used.

_ Ellen, I’m sorry about everything. I miss you… Is there any way we can put this behind us and be friends again? Please?  _

He realized Ellen would probably be asleep, so he didn’t expect an answer, which made him a bit surprised when it came anyway.

_ I don’t know Alex… I miss you too, but I think it’s obvious I have a hard time being just friends with you… I don’t want to push you, but maybe I should just try to forget you if we can’t be more… for both our sakes... _

Alex felt his heart sink.  _ Please, don’t do this  _ he thought to himself. He couldn’t lose her. But if he went out with her now, it wouldn’t feel right either. It would be because of all that had happened, and because she pushed him, and that wasn’t what he had promised the mystery girl either. And that promise seemed important.

_ Please don’t… I find it hard too. But I think we need to rebuild our friendship before we consider taking it further. But I promise I’ll think about it, ok? I obviously still love you, I hope you know that… _

It took a few minutes before Ellen wrote back again, and Alex knew she was thinking hard about his promise and whether she could trust him to follow through on it. Somewhere in his mind he realized he hadn’t been fair to her. He actually forced her into another type of relationship with him than she wanted, and he couldn’t really blame her if she would rather say goodbye. For him, having her as a friend was better than losing her completely; and even if he didn’t agree, he had to respect if she felt differently about it. Alex felt the panic starting to flash through him before she finally answered.

_ Ok. I’ll try to put it behind me… but I don’t know if I can just pretend it didn’t happen. Can we at least talk about it?  _ Ellen suggested and Alex let out a small sigh in relief. He hadn’t screwed it all up completely… yet. 

_ Sure… at the café, tomorrow, after the lectures? _


	23. The beach party

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which there is a beach party, some fighting, jealousy, random misunderstandings, and of course - making up again ;)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings for this chapter are mainly stubborn idiots being jealous and impossible, and a minor smut scene between the *** if you want to avoid it. Oh, and some major fluff going on at the end... Finally ;)

As May turned into June, the weather got unusually warm and the students at Met U found it hard to focus on the studies, considering the summer heat made outdoor activities seem much more attractive than hanging out in the library. Cal and Leo were studying on the grass outside the cafeteria, and Alex was helping Katie and some other guy from their class with an assignment, sitting next to the two cousins, when Viola and Ellen came up to them with really happy faces. 

“Have you heard? There is a big beach party this weekend by the lake… It seems half the campus is going…” Ellen exclaimed.

“It’s going to be so much fun!” Viola almost jumped with joy. 

“Yeah, and the restaurant by the lake is going to open for after beach for the first time of the season…” Ellen said and made little dance movements, then she looked at Alex and Katie. “You’re coming too…right?” It wasn’t really a question.

Alex sighed. He could see Ellen wouldn’t take no for an answer. Ever since what he referred to as  _ the talk _ it was like they were stuck in some kind of half relationship... they were not a couple, so he didn’t get to do any of the fun stuff, like kiss her or touch her, but she seemed to still demand a whole lot from him sometimes. He had promised her to think about going out with her, but he was still scared. Then again, he was terrified of losing her too, so he didn’t know how to act, really. Sometimes he thought about just jumping… But at the moment, he was really trying to make it work to be her friend. Perhaps he was just a coward, but he had to be sure before anything else could happen. He did not think their friendship could survive another incident where he caved in and kissed her, only to chicken out again. He had tried to forget his meeting with the mystery girl, but sometimes her words came back to him, and he was sure he wouldn’t have agreed to go out with Ellen if it wasn’t for the whole incident. At least not yet. He hoped Ellen’s patience wasn’t running out just yet...

But this beach party was going to be torture. The last thing he wanted at the moment was to go to that stupid thing anyway, even without Ellen. He wasn’t much of a beach guy, even at the best of times. And going there with her.... She would most likely wear a bikini or the likes, and he could only imagine what she would look like almost without clothes. He gulped. He didn’t want to imagine that at all. Being in this sort of friends-relationship with her was hard enough as it was and lately, when they spent time together, it sometimes got so bad he just wanted to hit things to get rid of his frustration. It wasn’t a feeling he was used to having. Instead, he had been running a lot lately. He felt that long distance running sometimes was the only thing that could keep his mind off of Ellen. Maybe if he ran ten miles or so in the morning, he would be beat enough to endure a day at the beach without having an inappropriate erection the whole time?

“I don’t know… I have to study actually. We have finals coming up and I have an assignment to turn in next week…” Alex tried halfheartedly, though he didn’t think it would do much good.

“Oh, come on, it won’t hurt you to get a bit of vitamin D…” Ellen said.

“Yeah, and some fun…” Viola smiled.

“We can always study at the beach?” his classmate suggested and Ellen smiled in triumph at her unexpected ally and turned around to get something to drink from the cafeteria.

“Thanks…” Alex muttered at his friend.

“What? An extremely hot girl just totally asked you to go with her to the beach party, were you actually going to say no? Well, if you’re not interested you can introduce her to me… I’m smart too, if she’s into the geek type…” he smirked.

“Will you give it a rest, she’s my friend, and Katie’s friend too. And she’s his sister…” Alex said and nodded in Cal’s direction. He was used to the reaction all his geek friends had to Ellen, and he was kind of sick of it… “...you don’t want to mess with him.” he added trying to make it sound as if Cal would beat up any guy who looked at Ellen.

“Yeah, and you don’t want to mess with Ellen either, so you’d better show up for that party Alex…” Cal laughed at him from his spot on the grass but Alex just muttered something inaudible in return.

*

In the end, Alex did come to the beach. Most of his friends were going, both the gamers and Cal and the others, and he saw no real reason not to, except to avoid seeing Ellen in a bikini, and it seemed a bit desperate to stay home because of that. When he got there, however, he instantly regretted it. Ellen was looking ridiculously stunning in a blue halter neck piece that showed off every inch of her perfect body for the whole goddamn world to see and for all males on the beach to ogle. And they sure did… Alex did his best not to look at her at all if it wasn’t absolutely necessary. Instead, he sat down grumpily somewhere in the middle between his two groups of friends, dug out his books and tried not to feel horribly uncomfortable. 

To make matters worse, Liz showed up. When he saw her coming towards them, he groaned internally and considered just swimming out and never coming back. Naturally, Liz instantly started being rude to Ellen, but always just so subtle that it would be hard to prove she did it on purpose if he confronted her. Ellen was normally not one to tolerate being treated like that, but she seemed to have a hard time with Liz for some reason. Alex suspected that she might be a bit jealous, which was ridiculous since he had already told her he had no interest in Liz whatsoever. It was hardly his fault that she couldn’t leave him alone, right? Liz tried to get Alex to go swim with her, and when he rather wanted to study, she started talking about memories from last summer and what they had done on the beach back then until he went with her into the water just to get her to shut up. He didn’t need for Ellen to hear any details about his summer fling from last year. Liz tried to make it sound much more hot and fun than it actually had been anyway, but Alex found it hard to protest, because it would have made it so obvious he didn’t want Ellen to know. 

When they got back from swimming, Ellen was gone and he sat down a bit closer to his other friends and started striking up a conversation with Viola just to be able to turn his back on Liz. He had pulled on his t-shirt as soon as he had dried up, and Vi was asking if he didn’t want a bit of a tan?

“Well, you actually only need to be in the sun for about fifteen minutes to trigger melanin response, meaning it’s the minimum effective dose of exposure of UV-light for tanning. If you stay exposed much longer without resting the skin, the only thing that happens is that you increase the risk of getting skin cancer…” Alex answered her in his usual way, but she just laughed. 

“Ok, but you’ll deprive the girls something to look at…” she said, wiggling her eyebrows.

“Eeh… ok. Not really my problem. But I think the girls have more interesting things to look at anyway…” he smiled and shook his head at her, rolling his eyes in the direction of where Cal, Leo and Ellen were playing beach volleyball with some other people he didn’t really know. He didn’t know what Viola had meant by that statement; if she had referred to Ellen or Liz or whatever. It wasn’t as if Alex had the kind of body girls usually drooled over at the beach anyway. Not that he was totally out of shape, but he was not big and muscular like his two friends, and he wouldn’t have been wanting to increase his risk of getting cancer just to impress some girls even if he had been. On the contrary, when it came to Liz, it was better the less of an invite he was showing her. If he sat there shirtless, it would probably only be a matter of time before she insisted on rubbing him with sun lotion.

“Hmmpf…” Viola was clearly a bit annoyed when she studied Cal running around playing volleyball in only his swim trunks… “Yeah, well, I’m not taking him to the beach ever again…” she muttered.

*

Ellen was happy when some people from one of Cal’s and Leo’s classes asked if they wanted to play beach volleyball. She needed to act out some frustration, and she needed to get far away from Alex and his horrible little hacker friend. Not only had she squeezed her towel down way too close to Alex for her liking, she had acted as a total bitch towards Ellen as usual and started to talk about her summer fling with Alex, insinuating that they had had sex on this very beach last year. Ellen very much doubted that it was true, knowing how shy Alex was, and how uncomfortable he had been when she had started telling the story, but still. Ellen didn’t want to hear anything about them at all. To make matters worse, Liz looked prettier than usual, with less dark makeup, in a tiny black bikini. She didn’t have Ellen’s classical beauty, her long legs or perfect curves, but she was not completely unfortunate looking. And she was petit in that way that would make Ellen jealous sometimes. The kind of girl Alex would easily be able to carry to bed in his arms… Not that Ellen was turned on by being manhandled, but what if Alex did get his kicks out of doing that? And she was pierced on her body too; one was visible in her belly button, and Ellen could see at least one of her nipples being pierced under her bikini. And she had a dragon tattoo. Of course she did… Along with a couple of other ones as well. Ellen mentally rolled her eyes. What if Alex liked that sort of stuff? Did he need tattoos and piercings to get turned on? Was his problem with Ellen that she was too normal? She almost laughed out loud at her own thought…  _ Too normal _ wasn’t really an epithet she had ever used in the same sentence as herself before.

Well, at least they had won the game. That was always something, right? She looked over to where the others were sitting. Alex sat next to Viola, with his face hidden behind a book at the moment. She was satisfied to notice that he had more or less turned his back to Liz now, but she was a bit disappointed that he wasn’t looking at her at all. He had hardly looked at her at all since he came to the beach. Not even when she had asked if he couldn’t help her with the sun block on her back… he had just kept his nose in his notes and mumbled something about being in the middle of something. God, it was frustrating. Was he made out of stone or something? She had secretly hoped that a day at the beach, exposed to a bit of her skin, would finally make him confess to himself that he wanted her as more than a friend, but no. He probably wouldn’t have noticed if she had been completely naked.

She had been planning to force Alex to spend some time with her later, like go for a swim or get some ice cream or something. Anything to make him at least see her… But when she saw Viola’s face, she frowned and considered if she might have to drop the seducing-Alex plan and buy her friend a big cone of Rocky Road instead. She didn’t know what her problem was, but she had a weird look of disappointment, surprise and fury on her face, like if she had been punched in the face by Santa Claus on Christmas Eve. Ellen followed her gaze and turned around to see her moron brother being wrestled down in the sand by the girl on the volleyball team they had just beat. Evidently, she figured that losing the game gave her the right to assault the winning team’s players for revenge. 

Ellen noticed that she was really pretty, with wet, blonde hair, a great body, and big boobs in a bikini top and shorts. She was giggling at Cal, pouting with her lips and straddling him in the sand pressing her chest dangerously close to his face. To Ellen’s fury, and utter surprise, he was laughing too, and she listened to what they were saying. 

“...did not…” Cal said indignantly.

“Oh, you so did cheat you bastard, I’ll get you for this…” the girl pouted at him again.

“Can you please get those out of my face, you know it won’t work on me anyway… my girlfriend is much hotter than you...” he laughed at her.

“You’re evil… but you’re right… So, do you think she’ll be in for a threesome?” the blonde said and wiggled her eyebrows.

“In your dreams…” Cal burst out laughing again.

Ellen gave her head a mental shake. What the f*ck? She didn’t know who to kill first, Cal or the blonde girl, but she walked the ten feet over to where they were rolling around in the sand and she pushed her off of Cal.

“Hey, you heard the man. He’s taken, so get lost, will you…?”

“Ellen…!” Cal exclaimed, as if she had been the one to be rude.

“Oh, I’m not interested in  _ him _ …” she said and gave Ellen an appreciative once over. “You played well, you know… I’m Patty, by the way… I’m in Leo and Cal’s economic history class” she smiled at Ellen.

“This is Ellen, she’s my twin sister…” Cal explained “...sorry about her, she’s a bit temperamental sometimes…”

“Wow, that’s kind of funny, I always told Cal I’d be all over him if he was a woman, but he never told me there actually _ was  _ a female version of him…” 

“Yeah, but she’s not interested anyway…” Cal said.

“Oh, so now you get to decide that?” Ellen scowled.

“What, since when do you have a thing for girls? And aren’t you still crazy about Alex anyway…?” Cal raised his eyebrows.

“Yeah, but I still don’t like it when you tell me what I want and not…” Ellen muttered.

“Feisty! I like her…” Patty laughed. “Real shame you’re straight….” she said flirtily as if she hoped Ellen could change her mind on that. 

“Perhaps this will at least teach you not to jump to conclusions when it comes to people…” Cal smirked at Ellen.

“Yeah, well, from where I was standing it kinda looked a bit suspicious with you wrestling a half naked, hot girl in the sand…”

“Hot, huh..?” Patty raised her eyebrows and smiled. 

“Yeah, well… The problem is that I don’t think I was the only one to jump to conclusions…” Ellen said and glanced in Viola’s direction, but she wasn’t there anymore. “Where did she go anyway…?” she asked no one in particular. 

  
  


*

Viola was furious. No, she was sad. No, disappointed. Or was it just plain miserable? Jealous was also a suitable word, but it sounded so petty. 

Girls ogling her boyfriend was nothing new, but somehow this day at the beach had really tested her patience to the max. Not only was there no way for people to ignore his gorgeous body when he walked around dressed in just swim trunks. Cal in wet, messy hair was also a sight to behold. At first, she had enjoyed the view herself, just shrugging off the heads turning in his direction, but it was slowly getting old. And then some horrible girls from her and Ellen’s creative writing class had really pissed her off. She had met them when she went to get drinks and they had greeted her and talked for a few minutes before they had noticed Ellen.

“Oh, you’re here with Ellen? Yeah, you two are really close, right?” one of them said.

“My gosh, who’s the hunk she’s chasing around over there? I think I’m gonna faint… Trust Ellen to land a guy like that…Why can’t I look like her? Isn’t it unfair that it always is the really hot girls they go after…?” her friend sighed.

“Eeeh… that’s actually her brother” Viola interrupted her little swoon fest. She had spent a second choosing between  _ my _ boyfriend, or her brother, but in the end she had gone with explaining why the chasing was just sibling banter, before she had to explain why Ellen was flirting with her boyfriend instead.

“Oh, yeah, that makes sense. Now that you mention it, there is definitely a likeness…So... is he single?” she asked again, hopefully.

Viola sighed again. “Nope, he’s taken actually… hands off please.”

“Oh, you’re into him? I bet you are...” the first girl said, a bit patronizing as if she thought Viola meant she liked him, but the feelings couldn’t possibly be returned. 

“I would hope so, since I’m dating him…” Viola had snapped, getting really annoyed at the attitude from the two girls.

“Oh, good luck with that…” the other girl had snorted, rather indiscreetly.

“What, so you’re saying I’m not hot enough for him…?” she had raised her eyebrows, thinking she should at least force the bitch to spell it out for her. 

“I didn’t mean to offend you… It’ not that you’re not pretty. It’s just… guys like that usually go for the...well… more classical feminine beauty sort of girls. Like the tanned, blonde ones with D-size cups, and size four pants. I’m sorry, I just don’t want to see you get hurt honey…” she said with a patronizing tone, giving Viola a degrading once over.

“Yeah well, if anyone is trying to hurt me here, it isn’t my very lovely, incredibly hot, not as shallow as you would think, boyfriend since eighteen months, you imbecile… so why don’t you just sod off instead of trying to give me advice about my love life” she had spit and turned around to leave.

Now she sat and sulked while she watched Cal playing beach volleyball with Leo, Ellen and some people she didn’t know. She wasn’t usually insecure about her looks. She could look good if she wanted to, even if she normally didn’t put much effort into hair, clothes and makeup. And she knew Cal thought she was beautiful anyway, but sometimes it just sucked that people thought he was out of her league. And that they could be so mean about it. Deep down, she knew it was probably because they were jealous, but it was sometimes hard not to take offense. Especially when you were hanging out with people like Ellen and Holly, who were both known to cause traffic accidents if they dressed up and were let out on the streets. And Viola had never had that perfect body. She wasn’t fat. Not at all. Actually, she was in pretty good shape. But she had always been more curvy than thin, and the kind of sports she did, like skiing, mountain climbing and previously soccer back in England, hadn’t really left her with the size four thighs those girls had been mentioning. Ok, and the junk food that was always consumed in the penthouse was more mean to her than to Ellen, Cal or Leo, who seemed to be able to eat unlimited amounts of everything without putting on one pound. She, on the other hand, had put on a few extra. Not that she cared, normally. But today, her self esteem was lower than ever, and those two witches from the writing class had really gotten to her. The way they just couldn’t seem to believe that she was actually dating Cal had felt humiliating. 

And to make matters worse, Cal was talking an awful lot to a real bimbo from the other team, with impossibly long legs, wearing a bikini that was definitely at least a D-cup. She had an unusually long neck too and reminded Viola a bit of a barbie doll. She stood way too close to Cal, laughing like she knew him, and then she suddenly wrestled him playfully to the ground. And to her horror, Cal didn’t even protest when Barbie straddled him in the sand and pushed her oversized boobs almost into his face. He just laughed and said something to her that Viola couldn’t hear, shaking the sand out of his stupid hair. Well, that was it. She was officially done watching this charade. It was one thing that girls threw themselves at him, another that he let them. She could almost hear the girls from their class laugh at her saying “Well, we told you so honey…”. She felt the tears pooling in her eyes and muttered to Alex that she was going for a swim, and then she ran out into the water.

As the sun was shining like on a hot day in July, Viola forgot that the summer wasn’t really officially there yet. Even though it was warm enough in the air to spend a day on the beach in bikini, the water was still icing cold in the lake. People had been bathing, of course, but they had been taking really short swims so far. In her upset state of fury, Viola hardly noticed the feeling of the water as she just swam straight out, far into the middle of the lake. It was a stupid thing to do, and she was normally smarter than that, as she was used to swimming both in mountain lakes and in the cold North sea. But she was not using her brain right now, she only wanted to get as far away from the beach as possible, and she wanted to work off her aggression by doing some physical exercise. By the time she felt her legs go numb, and realized she couldn’t feel her toes anymore, she was way too far out already. She turned around and started to swim back towards the beach but it was just so cold. She was shaking and the parts of her body she could still feel really hurt from the icing water. When her limbs stopped obeying her commands, she turned on her back and floated for a while to rest, but she just felt dizzy instead. She wasn’t exactly scared, if she had been, she would probably have been screaming. Somewhere in her numb mind, the thought crossed her mind, but it just seemed like too much of an effort, and she also registered that thought that she had read somewhere that children who drown never scream. After that, she slowly lost consciousness.

*

Cal heard Alex call Viola’s name when she didn’t get back from the swim, and when he quickly scanned the lake his heart froze as he saw her floating, just barely above the surface, far out in the middle of the lake. He threw himself out, diving into the water and using as much super speed as he dared to considering all the witnesses on the beach, and he reached her just before she started sinking. He couldn’t understand what had happened, she was a good swimmer and she wouldn’t be so stupid as to swim straight out into the cold water like that, right? Had she seen something? He scanned the area but found nothing. And at that moment, his priority was to get Viola to the beach as soon as possible anyway, so he swam back with her, the fastest he could, human speed. Luckily, he wasn’t as affected by the coldness of the water as normal people, or they would probably both be swimming with the fishes for real. 

He put her down on the beach and started giving her a couple of compressions in the chest. She coughed and spit out some water, but started to breathe normally to his relief. She still didn’t wake up though, and he realized that she was ice cold. He carried her to their towels and Ellen helped him rub her dry as he held her in his arms to give her as much body heat as possible. He briefly considered using his heat vision, but there were too many people looking. And he had never tried that on a person before, even if he had control over it, he wasn’t sure how much heat he could use and he was scared to hurt her. He heard the others discussing if they should call an ambulance, but her heart rate sounded normal and at that moment she opened her eyes and looked at him. 

“Thanks…” she whispered, feeling both relieved and ashamed.

“Jesus Viola, you scared the hell out of me…” he stroked her over the hair. But when he bent down to kiss her she turned her head away.

“How do you feel? Are you ok? Or do you want us to take you to the hospital?” he asked her instead.

“No, I’ll be fine… thanks for saving me” she said, but Cal noticed a cold tone in her voice that he didn’t think had anything to do with her adventure in the icing water. She crawled out of his lap and wrapped herself up in a dry towel that Ellen gave her, still shaking a little.

“Ok, so does your savior at least get a kiss for the effort then..?” Cal asked her playfully.

“Oh, sorry. I didn’t realize you wanted payment…” she answered, but without humor in her voice and she made no effort to kiss him at all.

“Are you mad at me?” Cal raised his eyebrows at her. She thought about it for a while. It felt a bit petty to be mad at him for flirting with some girl when he had just saved her life, but once she was safe out of the water again all the feelings from earlier came flooding back, and the embarrassment she felt about her own stupidity just added to her humiliation and anger.

“No... “ she lied “I’m grateful you saved me, but I’m just not in the mood for snogging right now, ok?” 

“So can you tell me what happened? What were you thinking swimming out like that?” he changed the subject, thinking she needed some space.

Viola just shrugged and looked down into the sand. She didn’t feel like talking about this right now, especially since she didn’t have a good explanation for her behavior. At the moment, she felt vulnerable and not at all in the mood to confess that she had been jealous and angry.

“Oh, come on… I know you Viola, can you please stop sulking and just tell me what’s bugging you..? You wouldn’t be so stupid if nothing had happened...” Cal was getting frustrated now. He was used to Viola’s temperament, she could be mad at him and yell from time to time, and she rarely held anything back. But now, she was sulking and refusing to tell him what had happened and he thought he could provoke her to open up and at least yell a bit at him by saying she had been stupid… But it didn’t work as he had planned, instead of screaming at him she started to cry.

“I know… I’m stupid. Not only am I fat and not good looking enough for you, now I’m stupid and sulky too. I can understand if you don’t want to be with me right now. I’ll just go home…” she spit out between her silent sobs, while she packed up her stuff and started to walk away. 

“What the hell are you talking about?” Cal shouted after her, shook his head incredulously, and followed her when she made her way towards the parking lot. 

“Just the obvious…” she snapped without looking at him.

“Did I ever say that?”

“You just called me stupid and sulky….” 

“Yeah, because you were… but what does that have to do with anything else? Did I ever say you’re fat? That’s ridiculous…” he was getting angry at her now too. Why was she accusing him like this, he just saved her life? And she knew very well he didn’t say or think any of those things. 

“Look, why don’t you just leave me alone and go back to feeling up Barbie like you did before…?” she yelled at him.

“Barbie? Who the hell are you talking about?” he bit back, starting to feel angry about her accusations now.

“The Volleyball girl who looks like a Barbie doll? She was sitting on top of you the last time I looked…” 

“Oh, so this is what this is about! You’re jealous… and you thought it was a good idea to go swim at the bottom of the lake to get back at me, right? God, Viola… “ he roared in frustration.

“No, I wasn’t planning on drowning myself if that’s what you think. I can have a life without you, you know… I was just a bit pissed off and underestimated how cold it was.” she spit back. 

“You did not just seriously say that, right? You want a life without me now? Just because I was playing around a bit with a friend? Come on…”

“A friend…” Viola scoffed. “You know, it’s one thing that I have to live with women ogling you and throwing themselves at you all the bloody time, wherever we go, it’s a whole other issue when you let them…” she muttered. 

“Come on, you have to stop being so jealous… That was just a friend, from my history class, Patty… I even told you about her, right?”

“Patty? That’s Patty? Oh god…” Viola wanted to hit herself in the head. Cal had told her all about her. How he found it so funny she would always fake-flirt with him and Leo and some other guys although she was gay, which Cal thought was both stupid and kinda funny in some weird way. But he only ever talked about her like if she was one of the guys. She realized she must have been a bit prejudiced to assume she couldn’t possibly look that good…

“Yes, you know, my gay friend… I was actually kind of wrestling with her because she was checking you out. She did suggest a threesome, but it wasn’t because she was interested in me, I can promise you that much.”

“Perv… you’d love that, wouldn’t you?” Viola huffed

“No, I wouldn’t. Because you are the only one I want Viola. When are you ever going to understand that…? It kind of hurts a bit that you don’t trust me, you know…” he said.

“I’m sorry… but I didn’t really think you would do something with her… It’s just… Sometimes it’s not so easy being your girlfriend, you know?” the tears were pooling in her eyes again as she felt the anger drain away and she looked into Cal’s beautiful eyes. 

“Why not? You have to talk to me, you know… and not jump to conclusions…” he said, wiping away her tears as he took a step closer to her. He hated it when she was sad. Angry, he could handle, but sad was torture.

“Do you know what just happened before I saw you wrestling Patty on the sand? And for the record it looked kinda suspicious from where everybody else was standing….” as he shook his head she continued to tell him about her encounter with the girls from class. “Two girls from my writing class were checking you out and wanted to know if you were single. When I said no, you’re dating me, they actually laughed at me. They wouldn’t believe it. And then they tried to give me some good advice to stay away from you so I wouldn’t get my heart broken since I’m not hot enough for you… And when you were there with Patty, I could just feel how they were watching me and thinking they were right. They probably thought you were cheating on me, and I’d let you walk all over me just so you wouldn’t leave me… Even if you didn’t mean anything with it, you kind of proved their point and it humiliated me.”

“Are you kidding? Did they actually tell you that? It sounds crazy…”

“Girls can be pretty mean, you know… And honestly, it’s nothing new. I’ve heard it a million times before. The surprise in people's voices when they hear you’re my boyfriend… The insinuations. Usually, I just shrug it off as jealousy, but I guess I’m a bit weak at the moment… you know, it’s hard not to notice how pretty Holly and Ellen are, and I did put on a couple of pounds lately… And for the record, we didn’t even have sex in one week. One week. Do you know the last time we went so long without making love? When we broke up… And it’s mostly because you didn’t have time, or you were too tired… I was kind of thinking that maybe you’ve finally noticed that I’m not that hot and you lost interest in me…” Viola looked down into the ground as the words gushed out of her. She knew when she said it that it wasn’t true, but the thoughts had been eating at her lately and she just had to get it all out.

Cal just looked at her and tried not to gape. He almost wanted to laugh because it was so stupid, but at the same time he could hear the seriousness in her voice. She was actually worried. And he couldn’t believe the things people would say to her, but he knew she rarely lied or exaggerated so it was probably true. He just wanted to hit all the girls who had ever insulted his beautiful girlfriend and he wanted to hit himself for not being more observant. He had been so stressed out over the finals and the remaining assignments, he hadn’t noticed how she felt. He had noticed that they hadn’t made love though; he had actually been counting the hours himself, but he had just had too much to do and he had tried to get by on the knowledge that it was only a couple of weeks before it would all be over and they could lock themselves up in the bedroom for as long as they would like to.

Cal took a deep breath and considered what to say to make her understand; they had reached the cars now, and he got closer to her and pinned her to Leo’s grey SUV with one hand on each side of her, looking deep into her eyes, forcing her to listen.

“Viola, you’re insane. The idiots who would say things like that can go to hell; I think you’re the most beautiful woman I have ever seen! And you’re smart, funny, feisty, sexy and just the right amount of crazy. I’m the lucky one who landed you; you know that I think so, right? And I’m sorry if you feel neglected lately, I’ve been so wrapped up in my school work and the training for the League. But believe me… I’ve counted the days too since we made love. I always want you, just you, nobody else. If you want to, I can show you just how much right here and now…” he ended his lecture in a seductive tone and pressed his body against hers, so she could feel that he was growing hard against her lower belly. 

“I’m sorry Cal… I should have known better… “ she started to apologize, but he crushed his lips to hers in a raw and passionate kiss to shut her up. After a brief moment, she answered the kiss and moaned into his mouth as she wrapped her arms around his neck and grinded her body against his naked chest. He put one hand under her bottom and lifted her up against the side of the car as she wrapped her legs around his back. They stayed like that for a while, kissing and holding each other tightly, but when Cal started tracing hungry kisses down her neck and towards her breasts, pushing the bikini top to the side, she glanced around nervously. She was normally the bold and a bit crazy one, and if they ever had sex in suspicious places it was usually on her initiative. But this was a bit too public even for her lust of adventure…

“Cal, you’re insane… someone could come by any minute…” she panted, although she had to admit the idea really turned her on in a weird way. 

***

“Relax, we are blocked from the road by the bushes, and from the side by the cars. And I will hear if someone is coming up from the beach. I promise…” he whispered huskily in her ear and went back to kissing her hungrily and squeezing her breasts. The one week dry spell they had gone through, combined with the fear of almost losing her before and the adrenaline rush from their argument was driving him wild with desire, and he was dead set on proving to her how hot he found her by taking her right then and there, against the car. It wasn’t his usual style to almost manhandle her like that, but he had lost his head a bit, and he could hear from her heart rate that she was turned on too, so he didn’t feel too ashamed about his behavior, at least not right now. He might later, but that would not stop him from going through with it. 

He pushed the bikini to the side again and sucked her nipples and he pushed one hand down between them and started massaging her as he felt she was already wet. She moaned loudly and threw away all caution at the wonderful feeling of his lips and his fingers.

“Better make it quick at least... “ she groaned into his ear.

“Yeah, I think that’s my only option at the moment anyway…” he grinned back at her as he pulled down his swim trunks a bit, pushed her panties to the side to give him access and plunged into her without further ado. If someone had told him a year earlier that he had taken his girlfriend against the car in a parking lot in broad daylight he would have considered that person to be a crazy pervert who watched too much porn. Maybe being with Viola had made him into a crazy perv, but once they had started making out, he couldn’t stop himself. He just had to have her. Both for his own pleasure, of course, but also to show her how much he needed her. How much he wanted her. And that she was his, and nobody else's. She could forget even considering a life without him, he would never allow that… Shit, what was happening to him? Now he was a possessive jerk too, not just a horny bastard? But he didn’t stop to ponder this too much at the moment, he was busy thrusting madly into her and holding back his own climax long enough go get her there. It would really be a lousy thing to do to leave her unsatisfied right now, she would never forgive him for that… Luckily, she seemed to enjoy his raw treatment at the moment, and she moaned his name so loudly he had to put his hand over her mouth to get her to quiet down. He captured her lips with his instead, and pushed his tongue into her mouth, while dropping his hand down between them to massage the bundle of nerves, using just a bit of superspeed. All the time, he tried to keep a bit of focus on the pathway leading down to the beach, and luckily nobody was coming. Finally, she started to twitch and shudder beneath him as she arched her back and threw her head backwards, breaking his kiss. He covered her mouth with his hand again, since he could feel she was going to scream, and he thrusted a couple of more times, hard and fast, and emptied himself deep inside of her in a mind blowing orgasm of his own, growling her name. 

He quickly pulled his swim trunks back on and straightened her bikini, but he didn’t let her go. He held her shaking body in his arms, still pressed against the car, and whispered in her ear.

“I’m sorry Vi, I didn’t mean for it to be so brutal… I love you so much… Please tell me I didn’t hurt you?”

“It’s ok, you didn’t. It was a bit crazy, I’ll admit… but I think we both had some buried emotions that needed to get to the surface… I yelled at you, and tried to drown myself, obviously. I guess your way of just shagging my brains out is better…” she smiled. “But I’ll still hold on to that we haven’t made love for a week. You can make up for it later...” she winked at him. 

“I’ll tell you what” he said, and looked around again to see that they were still alone. “I’ll speed you back home right now, and we can make love for real and have a shower before we go back to the others. I’m guessing you don’t really feel like a swim in the cold water right now anyway and you’re kind of messy…” he grinned. 

***

It was almost an hour before they got back to the others on the beach and they were greeted with some meaning smiles and a victorious sign from Ellen when they came hand in hand.

“What?” Cal asked her sister at seeing her triumphant smile.

“Oh, nothing… there was a bet going on whether you were killing each other or having sex, and I think I won… so I get free ice cream…” she grinned smugly. 

“We need new friends... “ Cal muttered, equally chagrined and amused, and shook his head at her.

“Did you even make it back home, or do I have to sanitize the car…?” Leo raised his eyebrows.

“I’ll buy the ice cream if you just shut up…” Cal snapped at him, but he grinned smugly in a wouldn’t-you-like-to-know kind of way and when they got up to go to the ice-cream stand he muttered “You’ll just have to wash the outside of it. Luckily for you, I didn’t have the keys…” and winked at his cousin, who made a disgusted face back at him. He knew he was going to have to eat it up later, but he couldn’t resist telling him. Leo was always way too generous with details about his own love life anyway so he deserved being freaked out right now. 

When they got to the ice cream stand, they met two girls who eyed Cal suspiciously, one blond and one brunette, both with rather bimbo like appearance.

“Hi…you’re Ellen’s brother right? Is it true that you’re going out with her friend… Viola?” one of them asked him bluntly and he immediately suspected that these were the ladies from her creative writing class.

“Yep, that would be me…” he said and bit back a scowl.

“Oh… well, if you ever get tired of her, you might find this useful…” she said seductively and handed him a piece of paper that evidently had her number written on it. Cal gaped and thought about an appropriate answer to that; he tried to breathe deeply but he found himself completely losing his temper when he thought about what those girls had said to Viola…

“You’re in Ellen and Viola’s creative writing class, right?” he asked, just to make sure, and they both nodded in response.

“Then, let me be brutally honest with you… I don’t mean to sound arrogant, but I get a lot of phone numbers actually. Now, I’m really a nice person, and normally I would have said thanks and tried to let you down easily. But I happen to know what you told Viola before; and I don’t think you deserve that kind of polite treatment. So here is the thing: this…” he held her note up in the air “...would be the last number I would call if Viola ever left me. Because that’s how it’s going to end if it ends… If it’s up to me, I will never need another phone number again in my life, because I have already landed the most beautiful, sexy, funny, smart and feisty girl in the world and I wouldn’t trade her for anyone on this planet. And as far as appearance goes, I prefer her natural beauty to your plastic surgery smiles and fake boobs any day of the week….” he finished by pressing the piece of paper back into the girl’s hand and turned around without giving them another look.

Leo gaped and raised his eyebrows. “I’ll explain later…” Cal muttered under his breath and walked up to the counter to place his order. 

*

When the temperature in the air dropped as the sun started to sink towards the horizon, the restaurant by the lake opened for the after beach party. Even though finals were not yet over, the place was crammed with students who celebrated that the summer was lurking around the corner. Alex was glad to leave the beach and especially happy that Liz had decided to go home, after he had made it perfectly clear he wasn’t going to go anywhere with her tonight either. He was standing a bit apart from the others, deep in a conversation about the upcoming exams with Cal when an obnoxious blonde guy with huge biceps and a bad attitude came up to them and gave them with a slimy grin.

“Oh, my… that hottie with dark hair and bangs over there? She came with you guys, right?”

Cal looked up to see in which direction he was looking, but it wasn’t hard to guess who he was talking about. Ellen was normally a jeans and sweater kind of girl, since she was so naturally beautiful she didn’t really have to care about her appearance to look great. Tonight though, the theme was after-beach and Ellen had just pulled a short summer dress over her bikini, which showed a rather generous amount of cleavage and hugged her body perfectly, which made her look unusually hot even for her. 

“You mean Ellen…?” Cal said.

“Right, the one with the incredible boobs. She’s your girlfriend?”

“No, but…”

“She seeing anyone? Otherwise I call dibs…”

“Of course. You know, she’s like this toy we like to give away to the first person who sets eyes on her, so she’s totally up for grabs…” Alex snared, voice dripping with heavy sarcasm… His patience had almost come to an end, both with trying not to look at Ellen himself and having to endure all the other guys ogling her shamelessly. He just wanted to rush over to her and cover her in something...like a tent.

“Sorry mate, did I insult your girlfriend…?” the Biceps guy snorted at him.

“She’s not my girlfriend… I just think you’re being a bit of a dick, that’s all…” he muttered.

“Oh, obviously she’s not your girlfriend. I was joking geek… That would be in your dreams… But I actually do have a dick, and I plan on using it tonight…” he said and nodded in Ellen’s direction. Cal opened his mouth to speak, but Viola had snuck up behind them and heard it all, and she beat them to it.

“You talking about Ellen? She’s my friend. You know, she’s really into the macho type, so if you just go over there and offer to carry her off somewhere and nail her, you’ll be in for the ride of your life…” she said and wiggled her eyebrows at Mr biceps. 

“Yeah? Sweet…” he said, took his beer and made his way through the crowd.

“Come on Vi, that was low, even for you…” Cal said, stifling a laugh.

“What? He so totally deserves what’s coming, you know. What a total jackass…”

They watched as Mr Biceps made his way through the room up to Ellen. He almost immediately put his hand on one side of the wall behind Ellen, half trapping her in the space between him and the wall. He raked his other hand through his blond hair and nodded at her while he spoke. They couldn’t hear what he was saying, but it didn’t take more than one minute before he was writhing in pain on the floor clasping his hands to his groin and Viola roared with laughter.

“You know, she could have actually hurt him… he’s lucky he only got a knee in the balls.” Cal said with a reproachful look at Viola.

“Yeah, but that’s not my fault. It was bound to happen sooner or later if he had his mind set on hitting on her. He  _ was _ a sleaze ball all by himself you know?” she defended herself.

“Guess you’re right…” he shrugged and got over to Ellen to drag her away before she really got into trouble. 

Alex and Viola watched for a while before Viola spoke. “You know, this time it was an obnoxious git who hit on her and got what he deserved. But Ellen is a pretty amazing girl you know…”

“I know...”

“...which means the day will come when a perfectly decent guy comes to you and asks if she’s got a boyfriend. What are you going to say then?” Viola continued, but Alex just shrugged. 

“Oh, come on Alex… you’re going to regret losing your chance with her forever if you don’t do anything about it soon…” Viola had sworn not to get mixed up in their business, but she could see that they were both hurting and she had had enough of this charade where they pretended to be just friends but obviously wanted more. 

“So when are you going to do something about it?” she insisted, when he still didn’t answer. 

“I dunno...” Alex said.

“I just don’t get it… why are you two torturing yourselves like this? You know she likes you too…” Viola said, clearly frustrated.

“Yeah, maybe… I don’t know. I just don’t think it would work…” 

“Why not?”

“Look, first of all… I’m not the kind of guy a girl like that would go out with. At least not long term… Maybe she thinks she likes me right now, but I think we are just too different to make it work…”

“Are you saying that she’s too hot for you, because that would be a bit stupid not to let her decide that… Or are you saying she’s not smart enough for you? Because that’s a bit arrogant to tell you the truth…” Viola said with a smug grin.

“Wow, why don’t you just speak your mind instead of sugarcoating it for me like that…?” Alex said sarcastically.

“Seriously…” 

“Ok, so say we would go out… there are only two ways it could end… Either it doesn’t work out, and it gets awkward, which would be sad since I actually enjoy hanging out with you guys, and I will lose a great friend in the process….”

“Or it does work out…” Viola gave him an incredulous stare and a look like if she wanted to hit him.

“Or it does work out… which only means we would probably really fall in love, have some great times, and end up really hurting each other in the end…”

“Why though? What about the scenario where you live happily ever after..?”

“You know what I told you about my father? I just couldn’t live with myself if I let a girl get in the way of my dreams… I know it seems harsh, but I really do like Ellen. And I think she’s brilliant actually. I just rather want to have her as a friend than start something romantic that is bound to fail sooner or later.”

“So what would you do if she actually met someone else? Could you still be friends with her…?” Viola asked, thinking about how she had once convinced Cal to take a chance with her.

“I think so… It would probably hurt at first, but I would get over it sooner or later, I hope…” Alex lied, while his insides turned upside down in pain at the mere thought of Ellen with someone else. 

“So you are just going to let her slip away and be alone forever…?”

“I don’t know… I hope not. But if I can’t find someone who wants the same thing that I want, I guess I’d rather be alone than give up the life I want.”

“And how do you know that someone isn’t Ellen? Perhaps you should ask her instead of taking the risk of missing a once in a lifetime opportunity with a really great girl who actually likes you…”

“I don’t know… Can I tell you something? It’s kind of stupid…” He gave her a small smile.

“You mean more stupid than everything you just said…?” Viola rolled her eyes.

“Yeah… it’s a dream that I have had since I was a kid… It’s kind of unrealistic, but still…”

“Ok, so tell me anyway. Perhaps it could explain why you are being an idiot right now…” Viola said.

“My biggest dream has always been to work with the CIA, the Justice League, or something like that. You know, to develop tech stuff or do hacking for them, and help them save the world. Maybe a secret government agency wouldn’t be too bad either…”

Viola just stared at him with an open mouth, unable to respond.

“I know it’s a long shot… but the thing is, if I would sacrifice that dream for a girl, no matter how much I loved her, I would spend my whole life wondering if I could have made it…” 

It took awhile for Viola to compose herself enough to be able to respond to that, and she still had a hard time to stop herself from just screaming out loud. 

“And even if you managed to fulfill your dream… how would it make it impossible for you to go out with Ellen…?”

“You don’t see it…?”

“Nope…” she said, popping the p, arms crossed over her chest. 

“If I could get a job like that, I would be a target, and people close to me would be at risk too. And I don’t even know if you’re allowed to do that kind of job if you have a family… I mean, we all know they have a lot of secrets to keep…” he said thoughtfully.

Viola just closed her eyes and shook her head in disbelief. This must be the worst case of ironic stupidity she had ever heard of in her entire life.

“So, basically, you’re saying that you are willing to give up the chance of finding happiness here and now with Ellen because of some small chance that you might one day end up working for the Justice League or the likes thereof…?” she summarized and Alex shrugged apologetically.

“Ok, so maybe I have misunderstood something here, because I thought you were supposed to be an intelligent life form… and this is definitely on my top three list of the most stupid things I have ever heard in my entire life…” Viola said, still shaking her head. Of course, she couldn’t tell him how ironic it actually was, but even if Ellen hadn’t been who she was, it was still a really stupid way of reasoning.

“I know it sounds a bit dumb, but I’m just scared that…” Alex started to explain. But Viola exploded on him…

“Yeah, that’s exactly what you are. Scared. You are a bloody coward Alex. A coward.” she basically screamed at him, resulting in heads turning in their direction and Alex glancing around nervously. He really didn’t want Ellen to hear this conversation. He gave Viola a pleading look, and she lowered her voice, but still sounded absolutely furious when she continued scolding him.

“...and you are hurting my friend because of it. And you are hurting yourself. This is stupid Alex. Stupid. I can’t even tell you how much, but trust me when I say that you are making the biggest mistake of your life right now. I can personally guarantee you that Ellen would never stand in the way of any of those plans you have. You are being an arrogant dick right now. You assume things about others because you are too scared to get hurt. Because I think that’s really what this is about. Deep down, you are scared that you will get hurt if you let Ellen in, but you know what? If you ever want to be happy or successful, either in your personal life or in your professional career, you have to take some chances. You can’t plan your whole life ahead and stay stuck in the same rut because let me tell you how it will end - you will be a sad, lonely guy who still plays video games in his free time, dreaming about the big career and the gorgeous girl he could have had if he had taken a chance back when he was still young and promising. And you know what? Meanwhile, Ellen will have met some nice guy who will share her mission to save the world in her own way, either as a successful journalist exposing criminals, or working as an activist for an environmental organization or something else like that. Because let me tell you one thing, Ellen will never settle for less than an extraordinary life and if you’re not interested in being a part of that, she’s bound to find someone else who will. And when she does, don’t you dare come crying to me because it will be your own damn fault…”

Alex just stood there with his hands in his pockets, shuffling his feet a bit. Deep down, he knew she was right, of course. What was he so afraid of, really? It wasn’t as if the chance to go work with the Justice League, or getting a really big break as a researcher was all that probable anyway. And even if he did get his chance, maybe it would be possible to combine with a relationship somehow. Viola was right about one thing. Ellen was a girl who was obviously destined for great things, even if it wasn’t the same career that he had planned for himself. She was not anything like his mother, who didn’t want to move from the city she was born in, and whose biggest dream had been to open a coffee shop. He thought about his promise to the mystery girl - not to treat Ellen differently because of what had happened… But Viola never met her, so this argument would have taken place anyway, right? And what would he have felt about it then…? Probably the same way he did now, right?

While he was thinking about that, he heard Cal’s voice. He had obviously come up to them somewhere in the middle of Viola’s gush of words.

“Hey Vi, give the poor guy a break…” he said with a small smile.

“Yeah, why? Someone’s gotta tell him the bloody truth sooner or later Cal. Or were you going to?” she glared at her boyfriend, who started shuffling a bit uncomfortable too. Cal really liked Alex, and he hoped he would come to his senses soon just as much as Viola did. But he was afraid her rage would only drive him further away. Luckily, it turned out to be just what Alex needed right now to finally step up and make the decision that had been brewing in his mind ever since  _ The Talk _ .

“It’s ok…” Alex said, taking a deep breath, “I have to admit she’s got a point… My attempt to just stay friends with her is kinda going to hell anyway... “ he confessed, looking a bit ashamed.

“I’m glad you’re finally coming to your senses… So are you going to do something about it, or what?” Viola said, putting her arms to her sides and shooting him a challenging glare.

“Yeah, I don’t know… what do you think she wants me to do?” he asked, a bit uncertain.

“Oh, come on…” Viola roared at him “Stop being such a coward. There’s only one way to find out, and I’m not doing it for you…”

*

Ellen was not having the best night of her life. She was glad Viola and Cal had stopped fighting, but part of her was also jealous of their lovesick PDA. They had been hiding in some corner sucking face most of the evening and so were Holly and Leo. Will and Nico hadn’t even shown up. Katie was talking to one of Alex’s friends from their computer science class and didn’t seem too interested in her company. She briefly considered getting drunk and making out with some random guy just to piss Alex off, but she didn’t know if it was such a good idea. He was way too smart to fall for that kind of emotional blackmail and he would probably just take it as a confirmation of his stupid hypothesis that they were better off as friends. She glanced over to where he stood talking to Viola and Cal, but she didn’t feel like joining them. There was no need for him to see her in this terrible mood. 

Instead, she was talking to some of his gamer friends who had shown up for the party too. Two of them she had met at the concert before christmas, the girl Bea and his friend Tom, and then there were two other guys whom she had already forgotten the names of. She had really wanted to get to know his friends, but somehow they never stopped talking about computers and she wasn’t all that interested. They probably thought she was a rude bitch, but she didn’t care right now; at least Alex saw that she was making an effort. She was glad they weren’t asking about her and Alex, but they probably never thought she would be interested in him. And luckily, Liz seemed to have gone home, or Ellen would have really ended up being rude for real. Considering her bad mood, she didn’t think she could stand another five minutes in her company. Every time they had met her, she had been all over Alex, while doing her best to make Ellen look bad by asking her about stuff she was sure she didn’t know anything about and insinuating she was stupid when she couldn’t answer. Ellen suspected that she had noticed something going on between her and Alex, because she was never that horrible to Viola or Katie. But today she had really gone for some new kind of record in being obnoxious...

Instead of listening to what the others said, she was thinking about how to get out of this party. Maybe Alex was up to ditching it and playing video games instead? She knew he hated these kinds of gatherings anyway, and he had probably only gone with them because she had asked him. Even if he had hardly looked at her all day. But no, that wasn’t a good idea either. This just-friends-arrangement was slowly getting on her nerves. She never got used to his presence. No matter how many movie nights or game sessions they sat through, the urge to kiss him, or just touch him, didn’t lessen. On the contrary, lately it had been almost unbearable to be around him and sometimes she just wanted to scream out loud in frustration when the big lump in her chest got too heavy and threatened to explode. She had promised him they would rebuild their friendship after the big fight about Juno, but they had now. Right? And he had promised her to think about them going out… How long did he really need to think about that. Or rather, how long could she stand being kept in limbo like this…?

She had been too lost in her thoughts to notice the cocky guy coming towards him with a presumptuous grin on his slimy face. He flexed his oversized biceps a bit, obviously meaning to impress her and leaned against the wall with his stupid face way too close to Ellen for her liking. She made a face at him, which he evidently misinterpreted as an expression of interest instead of disgust.

“Hey gorgeous, why is a girl like you wasting your evening talking to these geeks…?” he started to strike up a conversation, but he had a hard time focusing on her face. Instead, his eyes kept dropping to her boobs, and she had to fight the urge to just hit him in the face right away when he licked his lips rather indiscreetly. She was really not in the mood for this right now.

“Well, at least they know what part of my body that actually contains both my ears and my brain which helps when you are trying to entertain a conversation…” she snapped, earning some discrete sniggers from Alex’s friends.

“Yeah, well, I like what I see and I know you like what you see, so why don’t we just cut to the chase and stop talking altogether…?” he said, wiggling his eyebrows at her in a really un-charming way. Ellen took a deep breath and counted to ten, slowly, while turning the bracelet on her left wrist exposing the blue pearl. She had a feeling how this might end, and she couldn’t afford really hurting the guy. He wasn’t worth spending the evening down at the sheriff’s office for…

“You know, I really think…” she started to protest, but he put a finger to her mouth and interrupted her.

“Don’t do that babe, I’m not sure thinking is your strong suit…” he said and let his hand slide down her side, and towards her bottom. Ellen just gaped at first. She had met some assholes in her life, but this one was obviously going for some kind of record. 

“No, so what do  _ you  _ think I would be good at?” she said coldly, while lifting his hand off her body.

“Why don’t we get out of here, and I will show you…? I have a  _ big _ surprise for you that I think you will enjoy…” he said and let his eyes flicker down to his groin, making a bit of an imaginary thrust in the air when he said the word big.

“Yeah, how big would that be…? Can I feel…” she said with a false seductive voice, unable to stop herself from messing with him.

“Sure baby…” he said flexing his hips a bit at her. She mentally shook her head. How dense was this guy? Did he seriously think one single girl on the planet earth would possibly be impressed by his joke of seduction tactics? 

“Thanks, because my knee is really curious about how big your balls are…” she replied and before his brain could make the connection he was already lying on the ground. Tom, Bea and the others were roaring with laughter but Ellen just glared at the guy with narrow eyes, making fists with her hands. It had felt way too good to take out her aggressions on him, and she almost hoped that he would get up and try something so she could continue.

“Okeeeyyyy, I think we need to step outside for a moment El…” Cal’s voice suddenly caught her attention and she felt his hands grab her from behind. He had an amused, but determined, grin on his face as he led her away. 

She followed her brother outside, and Alex’s friends came along, thinking they might need to defend her actions. They would totally back her up if her brother was angry, for them it was kind of like Christmas to see an obnoxious bully like that put in his rightful place.

“You know, he totally deserved it…” Bea said, with a worried face as they got outside. “...you should have heard some of the things he said to her, it was disgusting…” 

“I know, I just don’t want Ellen to get into trouble… I don’t think she was done with him yet, and it could have gotten ugly…” he winked at her. “But now I have to put out another fire inside, so why don’t you guys just watch her for a bit for me, ok?” 

“Hey, I don’t need a keeper… I’m calm now…” Ellen huffed.

“Sure you are…” Cal smiled and patted her in a bit of a patronizing way on the back.

*

“I’m sorry… I shouldn’t have lost my temper, but I’ve just had it with idiots like that…” Ellen said when Tom got back with some drinks five minutes later. She took a swig of her coke and let out a gush of air through her nose. 

“I think you were brilliant…” Bea said. “I guess it must be tiresome to get hit on like that all the time… I never really thought about it that way, I just always wish guys would notice me…” she said, looking a bit embarrassed. 

“Yeah, the thing is that it’s never the right guys who notice you…” Ellen muttered. 

“Oh, so there is someone who has caught your attention…?” Bea asked curiously.

“Yeah, there kinda is…” she smiled. “But he pulled the friends card on me…” she sighed and swallowed another gulp of coke.

“What? I can’t believe it… I didn’t think that happened to girls like you…?” she said incredulously.

“What do you mean?” Ellen asked, although she did know what Bea meant. She just didn’t want to be as arrogant as to assume it...

“I’m sorry… but have you looked into the mirror lately?” Bea said, amused.

“Well, you should know better than anybody that looks isn’t everything…” Ellen scoffed and quickly added. “And I didn’t mean that you’re not pretty. I just meant that you’re smart, right? Take that guy inside… If he hadn’t been such a dick, he was actually kind of good looking… I mean objectively speaking. But would  _ you  _ have been able to spend more than two minutes in his company without wanting to shoot yourself in the head?”

“I see your point… but you’re nothing like him Ellen. You’re smart too. And funny. Kind of unfair to the rest of us, you know?” she smiled at her. 

“Yeah, I guess that still isn’t enough though…” she said and shrugged. 

“So obviously he must be a real idiot...” Bea said with a comforting smile, in that moment, Alex came out to them, which made Ellen laugh out loud at the coincidence.

“What’s so funny?” he asked.

“Bea just called you an idiot…” Ellen said. 

Bea gave her a questioning look. “What? I didn’t...Oh…” she gaped when the realization hit her and her friends looked equally surprised. Not only was Ellen evidently interested in Alex, which was like the last thing they had ever expected. Even more unlikely was the fact that he had rejected her, and they were also surprised that she openly confessed it like that. But Ellen had never been much for hiding her feelings, and she didn’t really mind that Alex’s friends knew. With a bit of luck, one of them might be able to talk some sense into him, she knew at least his friend Tom thought she was hot, and he would probably tell Alex he was an idiot for not going out with her too. But Bea didn’t know all this, and she wanted to save Ellen from embarrassment, so she quickly made up an excuse.

“Oh, we were just talking about men in general, you know. Like that jerk who tried to come on to Ellen before…” she said.

“Oh, yeah… sorry about that…” Alex said, looking a bit ashamed.

“What? How on earth was that your fault?” Ellen said, raising her eyebrows.

“Well, not just mine… but he came up to us asking if you were single, and I sort of outed that you were… And then Viola decided to mess with him because he was being a real dickhead, so she basically insinuated you loved it when macho guys tried to manhandle you… I guess she kinda anticipated what would happen, and she thought he deserved it.” he grinned apologetically.

“Damn her, I’ll kill her...” Ellen muttered, half mad and half amused. It was really typical of Viola, and it was kind of funny, but it could also have ended badly if she hadn’t been able to control her temper like she did. 

“I’m sorry… I guess I could have lied and said you were seeing someone… It was quite obvious he was a real jerk…” Alex said shamefully.

“Yeah… or….” Ellen gave him a look that he couldn’t really interpret “...you could just finally agree to go out with me yourself, and you wouldn’t have to lie…” she gave him a playful smile that made his ears turn pink, and he started to shuffle with his feet again. He had planned on maybe talking to her about the possibility of them dating, and what that might mean. But he hadn’t really imagined four of his friends witnessing that conversation. 

“Right, and have Mr Biceps take me down instead…” he joked, going for a diversion since he really didn’t want to address the subject right there and then.

“Don’t worry, I will protect you…“ she teased him back and when he laughed at her their eyes locked. Ellen felt her mouth go dry and her heart started to hammer in her chest. There was a look in his eyes that hadn’t been there before. Could it be? She listened to his heart, and it was beating just as hard. She really hadn’t pushed him since  _ the talk, _ but she saw her chance now. She took a step closer to him, and he didn’t retract away from her. 

“You know, you would really do me a favour… saving me from jerks like that…” she smiled.

“Or I could be saving the jerks from you, more likely...” he said, lips twitching a bit, but his eyes were still locked with hers and she saw a spark in them that made the butterflies go wild in her belly.

“Yeah, you could save lives, you know…” she took one more step towards him and took his hands in hers, and when he didn’t pull back she felt the lump in her chest transforming into pure joy, swelling to occupy her whole being. 

“How could I say no to that…?” he said softly and gently pressed her hands. When she slowly leaned in to kiss him, they heard one of his friends wolf whistle behind their backs, and she pulled away briefly.

“Get lost, geeks, we’re occupied here…” she said with a wink and a wave of her hand. 

*

“Wow... I could have sworn my feet lifted off the ground…” Alex smiled at her when they finally broke apart. Ellen swallowed hard, feeling the panic mix a bit with the happiness. Was he joking or had he really noticed?  _ Crap… _ She had been so engulfed in the amazing feeling of his sweet, soft, wonderful kiss that she hadn’t noticed it herself at first… It wasn’t the first time she had kissed Alex, obviously. But all the other times had been like unplanned outbursts of emotions and although she had felt like she had been swallowed whole by passion at the time, it hadn’t been the same floating, light feeling of joy before. This time, it meant something more… 

“Yeah, I think it’s a sign that you finally made the right decision…” she smiled back at him, trying to joke back and play innocent, and she leaned in to kiss him again. This time, she twisted her bracelet discretely though… just in case.

“...because, you know you did, right? I mean… You’d better not chicken out on me again, ok?” she said, as they broke apart again. It was both a question and a demand…

Alex cupped her face with his hand and gave her a soft smile. 

“No, I promise you I won’t anytime soon... “ he said and kissed her once more, wrapping her up into a tight embrace. Now that he had caved in, and let his walls fall, he realized he would still have to muster his willpower not to become the kind of lovesick fool he despised. Because all he wanted to do was to kiss her again…

“...now you are stuck with me, you know…” he joked playfully, but then he got more serious. He had poured his heart out to her before, during their talk, so she knew how he felt. But he still needed to say it again. “Look Ellen...” he continued “... I am truly sorry that I kept you waiting so long. I was a coward, I realize that. But I had to be sure… and I am now. I love you and I want to be with you” he said simply.

“Oh, Alex...I love you too… and right now, I think that it was worth the wait if it makes you feel more secure…” she said, almost on the verge of tears. She felt a bit stupid for getting so emotional, but she had wanted this for so long. And now it was for real. It had happened… finally…

“Perhaps we should take a walk?” Alex suddenly suggested with a meaning glance at one of the windows in the restaurant, where most of their friends stood glued, enjoying the show. Ellen shook her head in disbelief and gave them a rude gesture before she took Alex’s hand and dragged him away along the dark beach.


	24. Not-really-date-night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Ellen finally gets some action, basically...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings - smut, sickly sweet fluff, awkward conversations and people being idiots in love... If you want to avoid the most explicit part, it's between the *** but this chapter is mainly one long conversation about sex, and never ending foreplay... The only thing plot-related that happens is happening in the last couple of paragraphs after Lois and Chloe show up, so skip ahead to that if you're sensitive to explicit language or fluff ;)

Ellen stood in front of the mirror in her bedroom, feeling a little bit nervous.  _ Relax, it’s only Alex…you know Alex, _ she told herself as she pulled a green tank top over her head and gave her mirror image a skeptical once over. The outline of her black lace bra was clearly visible under the top and she tried to decide if it was a good idea or not to show off her assets like that. Not that she was sure Alex would even notice, mind... They had been going out for three weeks now, and things were going excruciatingly slow, according to Ellen. Tonight was the first night they were really alone together since officially being a couple, though, and Ellen didn’t know what to expect exactly even if she was secretly hoping for things to heat up at least a little bit between them...

They had been at the movies once and out to dinner once by themselves but apart from those two public dates, some of their friends had always been around. Alex had been clear from the start about that he didn’t want to give up his hobbies or his other friends, and Ellen didn’t have a problem with that. At least not theoretically. But it was frustrating sometimes since she was so heads over heels in love with him, and so indescribably happy that they were finally together, that she just wanted to spend every free moment with him. Deep down, she knew that he was right though. It was the smart thing to do. In the long run, the chance of them making the relationship last was probably better if they still kept a bit of their lives to themselves. Thus, they had agreed on going out officially for one date a week, and apart from that they would spend time together, alone or with their mutual friends, when it was convenient for them both. Ellen just needed to be patient, she knew that. But, yeah. Patience…. Not her strong suit, honestly. 

Tonight wasn’t really an official date, it was mainly Alex coming over to play video games like he had done so many times before. But now everything was different and Ellen was nervous - thus the sudden fretting over her outfit. She didn’t want to look like she was trying to hard, or expecting something. But she also didn’t want to look like she didn’t care. And if things heated up, she didn’t want to risk him undressing her only to find a washed out sports bra underneath her top… Not that she knew what Alex got off on anyway. It wasn’t as if they had ever talked about sex; and so far they hadn’t even made it to second base. Part of her was a bit disappointed that he didn’t seem more eager to be intimate with her. The night when they finally got together they had spent most of the evening making out, but since then there had been far too little passionate kissing in Ellen’s opinion. It was obvious that he wasn’t too comfortable with PDA and when the others were around, he might hold her hand or give her a small peck on the lips sometimes, but nothing much more unless they could sneak off somewhere for a bit. And considering the way the other couples kept making out shamelessly everywhere it wasn’t as if the general protocol of their social group was to keep feelings hidden. If she didn’t know better, she would have thought that he was as nervous about being intimate as she was, but she knew that he had slept with Liz and suspected she wasn’t the only one either, so that probably wasn’t it.

Ellen, on the other hand, was extremely nervous. She thought about her bad experience with Mike, and she was scared that it might ruin her relationship with Alex if they slept together. But she also really wanted to be with him. Especially, she wanted to actually sleep in the same bed as him, wrapped up in his arms and just be close to him for hours and hours without disturbing friends or other interruptions. But if she asked him to stay the night, he would probably expect sex... She figured the best way to go about it was probably to talk to him. It was Alex, after all. Sure, he was a bit shy and not all too comfortable talking about his feelings, but he was also one of her best friends and she knew she could trust him with anything. As she heard the doorbell ring, her heart still started to pound a bit faster anyway. Alex greeted her with a hug and a slow, sweet kiss that left her wanting more, but at least it was more than the small pecks she had to do with when there were people around. 

“I brought the Thai food, I hope I got your order right.” he said, holding up a bag, as they broke apart. 

“Great, do you want to eat in the kitchen or in the living room…?” she asked. Usually, they always ate their take out curled up on the couch, watching some movie or old episode of a series they both liked. But now that they were dating, perhaps they should have a more romantic setting with candle lights and stuff…? What was the protocol for changing a relationship from friendship to lovers? Ellen didn’t really know…

“Either way is fine with me…” he said and Ellen decided to go with the usual way. No need to make things more awkward than necessary. 

Ellen got some soda from the kitchen while Alex unpacked the food. She briefly considered turning her bracelet on and having a drink to calm her nerves, but she thought it might seem weird since they usually never drank alcohol for their game nights. They decided to watch an old episode of Buffy while they ate and talked about what to play later, but Ellen had a hard time concentrating on the screen. She kept watching Alex instead; he just put his empty box of food on the table, drank some coke and leaned back on the couch evidently waiting for her to finish her meal so they could play. He seemed as relaxed as ever, but Ellen was getting a bit impatient. They were in a relationship after all, did he really think nothing at all would change? She put down her food on the table as well.

“So… do you want to play right away, or do you want to make out first?” she gave him a flirty smile and crept a bit closer to him on on the couch. He didn’t answer at first, but he gave her a smile that she interpreted as appreciative so she crept up in his lap and kissed him. He responded eagerly and put his arms around her waist, pulling her closer into what quickly became a passionate kiss, pushing his tongue tentatively into her mouth.  _ Oh, so he’s not so shy now that nobody is watching… _ Ellen thought and suddenly got both really excited and a bit nervous. She was quickly swept away in her own haze of desire though, and she really enjoyed being so close to him, touching him, kissing him, feeling his warm body pressing against hers. She straddled him, sitting across his lap, and twisted her hands into his hair and pressed him even closer to her lips and she let out a small moan as she felt him growing hard against her center. She was really turned on too, it was like her whole body ached for him in a way she had never felt before and she just wanted to rip his clothes off right here and now. Something in the back of her mind told her it wasn’t what she had planned for though and when he actually started to pull her tank top off, she snapped back to reality.

“Maybe we should slow this down a bit…” Ellen panted and pulled away from him, cheeks rosy and lips swollen from kissing. 

“Yeah, sure… sorry, I didn’t mean to get so carried away… it’s just… you kind of… well, you know… push my buttons…” 

“I push your buttons?” she laughed at the analogy.

“Yeah, I mean, you are hard to resist… But I can do self control, don’t worry.” he grinned at her sheepishly.

“No, I didn’t mean… I was just a bit surprised. You have always seemed so… reserved before. I guess I thought that you didn’t really want to... Or at least that you weren’t that eager to...you know. Take it further…?” she gave him a small smile, as she straightened her clothes a bit and sat back on the couch.

“Ellen, you’re crazy…” he said and smiled a twisted smile at her, cupping her face with his hand. “Ok, so I might be a bit better at hiding my desires than some of your other friends who don’t seem to be able to talk about anything else. But we haven’t really even been alone since we got together. I guess I’m not as comfortable with PDA as some of your friends...and relatives… But I am only human after all… and you are incredibly beautiful you know...and hot… And I love you. I’ve pretty much wanted you since the first time I met you…” 

“So why did you fight it so hard? Us being together I mean?” she raised her eyebrows.

“I’ve told you already Ellen… I didn’t  _ just _ want to sleep with you. But I wanted you as a friend as well, and I guess that was more important to me. Or it still is, in a way. But now I’m kinda hoping I can have both…”

“God Alex, you’re just amazing… And I want that too…both I mean. I guess you have noticed that I can’t seem to be able to keep my hands off of you…” she grinned at him “but the thing is that as much as I want to, I am a bit nervous about.... You know? Going all the way… I don’t want to rush it. I want to get things right with you...”

“We don’t have to rush anything Ellen, don’t worry. Like I told you, I do want you, but I’m in no hurry. I think I can manage the willpower to resist jumping you if I have to…” he winked at her playfully and added “I’m kidding, I’m happy just being with you…Really.” he said softly and leaned in to kiss her again, a bit slower this time, like if he wanted to demonstrate that he could do this without getting carried away. 

They shared a slow, sweet kiss, lying down on the couch, arms wrapped around each other in a tight embrace. Ellen felt like she was in heaven - not only did it turn out Alex actually wanted her after all, but he didn’t push her either. He was the perfect mix of sweet gentleman and hot lover somehow. But she still felt she owed him some kind of explanation. Or maybe she needed to talk about it, because part of her was also scared they would never get anywhere if he left all the initiative to her because he didn’t want to put any pressure on her.

“I’m sorry…” she said and sat up again “Can we talk about this?” she asked nervously.

Alex sat up too, put on his glasses and raked a hand through his even messier than usual hair. He studied Ellen where she sat curled up on the couch, looking a bit embarrassed. She had really lost him at the moment. He had no idea what she was talking about, but something obviously bothered her. A scary thought flashed across his mind. What if she had changed her mind? Maybe she had just wanted to be with him because she couldn’t, and now that they had gotten together, she had realized that it wasn’t what she had hoped for. Usually, he wasn’t very insecure or paranoid, but he still had a hard time believing Ellen had actually fallen for him. She was just too good to be true, and he still felt it couldn’t last very long.

“Talk about what?” he asked, clearing his throat, a confused and a bit uncertain look on his face. 

“About sex…?” she said, blushing a bit. Ellen was rarely embarrassed, and never scared about speaking her mind. But this was the one thing she really felt insecure about, and she just couldn’t believe Alex would be so understanding. If she didn’t address the subject, it would probably just hang in the air between them, and he would be scared to touch her because he didn’t want to push her, and she would think he didn’t want her and become even more insecure. 

“Oh… yeah, sure…” he said, sounding both surprised and a bit flushed.

“Sorry, is it awkward? I’m killing all the romance here, right?” she gave him a sheepish grin.

“No, it’s fine… I was never much of a romantic anyway.” he grinned back at her reassuringly before he continued “But you don’t need to give me an explanation for wanting to take it slow you know… I can wait for as long as you need.” 

“But the thing is I’m scared that we won’t get anywhere if you let me take the lead either…” she answered.

“Look, if you don’t want to do this, it’s ok. I don’t want you to feel any pressure because you were the one who wanted us to go out. And I certainly wouldn’t want you to feel like you owe me sex now...”

“No, God… that’s not what I was saying at all.” She crept closer to him again on the couch, leaning a head against his shoulder. She realized he still felt insecure about her feelings for him, which was almost unbelievable considering the way she had been throwing herself at him. Repeatedly. She really needed him to understand… “Alex, I love you. And I want you, very very much. You drive me crazy, it’s like I get dizzy every time you kiss me… and I just want more of that. But I’m actually kind of scared about sex. And not because it’s you, believe me. Quite the opposite, in fact. I feel safe with you, and that’s why I wanted to tell you about it…” she gave him a pleading look, like she really wanted him to understand.

“Ok, so tell me what’s bothering you, I’m sure it’s nothing we can’t handle…” he stroked her hair in what he hoped was a comforting way and urged her to go on, because he still didn’t understand, really.

“It’s just… How do I say this…? It’s kind of been a hang up of mine for a long time. I was afraid to let anyone in… to be that intimate with a guy, you know? And I thought there was something wrong with me because I never found someone I wanted to be with… Well, when I finally did find a guy who I was sort of attracted to and I slept with him… it was not a very good experience. It was terrible, in fact. So I broke up with him, and I haven’t been with anyone since… And I guess I’m just scared that I will ruin everything between us as well if I can’t make it work. If I can’t enjoy it, I mean… Even though I know it’s different, because I’m in love with you and I am really, really attracted to you, and I trust you, and I know you wouldn’t hurt me and that you would be ok with it if we tried and it didn’t work out and I wanted to take a step back and…” 

The words just came gushing out of her, and she didn’t dare look at his face at first, but when she did, she saw that he had a weird expression, somewhere between amused, concerned and really surprised, on his face. She stopped talking for a brief second.

“I’m rambling, right…?” she smiled apologetically. 

“A bit…” he smiled back at first but then he looked a bit thoughtful. He still didn’t talk though, which made Ellen nervous.

“Please say something… Is this half as stupid as I think it is?” she asked.

“No, it’s not stupid… I was just kind of surprised, that’s all. It was the last thing I expected to hear.” He made a pause and scratched his hair “But just so I get this straight… for the sake of argument, not that I want to pry… But you have only ever slept with one guy?” he asked incredulously.

“Yeah. And just once… like I said, it wasn’t something I was keen on ever doing again… until I met you, that is. I’m just scared there might be something wrong with me… Everybody else seems to enjoy it so much, and I just hated it, you know?”

Alex took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes a bit, really at a loss about what to say. He found it almost unbelievable that a girl like her could be so inexperienced. He would have guessed she would have had a rather long history of boyfriends to try things out with. And he also couldn’t believe she would think that about herself based on the one time she lost her virginity. It isn’t really a big secret that it’s usually a more painful than pleasurable experience for a woman. Had she never talked to her friends about this? Or just asked the Internet… or any Teenage girls’ magazine..?

“God, I really feel like an idiot…” she said, when he didn’t answer.

“No, don’t, I was just trying to think about what to say that doesn’t come out all wrong…”

“Just feel free to speak your mind. I’m not that easily offended, you know?” she said with a smile, trying desperately to keep it light.

“No, I just don’t want it to sound like I am trying to talk you into having sex with me…”

“Oh. Don’t worry, I know you’re not. Let’s just pretend you’re not my boyfriend for a moment. What would you say if I was just your friend, or your cousin or something…?” 

“I would probably tell you you’ve been a bit of an idiot for not bothering to read up on the subject…” he chuckled lightly. “Seriously though. You can’t base your view of sex on one bad experience Ellen. I’m just a bit surprised that you never talked to any of your friends about this, because I’m sure they would have been able to tell you that it’s quite common that the first time isn’t a total success… at least not for women.” he raised his eyebrows in a question.

“Yeah, I told Vi about it... And she said the same thing… but I just can’t shake the feeling that there might be something wrong with me. I mean, she said her first time had hurt too. But it didn’t really hurt, just a little at first. It just felt...wrong. Weird. I don’t know. Not good. And he was really trying to be gentle and patient so he could get me to come, but I just wanted it to be over so I kinda faked it in the end so he would stop…” she looked a bit ashamed “Sorry. Too much information?” she asked and made a face at him but Alex just shook his head and smiled at her.

“Don’t worry… I’m glad you told me. I’m just sorry you had to go through that. I don’t think it sounds as if he was as generous as he tried to make himself look… Did he even make you come before he actually… you know... entered you?” he asked and she shook her head. “Well, did he know you were a virgin?” she nodded. “Then he should have… I think he was an idiot. Especially if he didn’t even notice that you faked it either” he said matter of factly. 

“Thanks for saying that… I’m sorry if I made things awkward…” she said and squeezed his arm.

“Don’t worry about it…” he said with a smile and kissed her gently on the head. Part of him felt sorry for her and just wanted to take care of her and comfort her. Take it slow forever and never have to risk putting her in that situation again ever. But part of him just wanted to rip her clothes off and prove to her how great sex could be. It probably wasn’t a good idea at the moment, he decided. “We’ll take things slow, and when you’re ready to try, I promise you it will be a different experience, and you definitely have a free card to stop at any point if it doesn’t feel good, ok?” he assured her and she answered with a nod and kissed him gently on the lips.

“Since it’s already awkward anyway... “ she suddenly said and he couldn’t help his lips from twitching a bit again. 

“Yeah?” he asked, lips curling upwards in a small smile as he was guessing what was coming.

“Is it weird if I ask about your experience…? I mean, you don’t have to answer if you don’t want to. I already know you are not a virgin… And it’s not as if it matters to me, really. I was just a bit curious…” she rambled a bit again. 

“So what do you want to know?” he answered her with a question. 

What she really wanted to know was everything, of course. The whole history of who, when and where. She had said it didn’t matter to her, and in one way it didn’t. It wasn’t like she expected him to be as inexperienced as she was. Objectively speaking, it was probably a good thing that he wasn’t since his experience would increase the chances of him actually knowing what to do to make it work. But she still felt weirdly jealous of every girl who had ever touched him before. He was hers, and nobody else's. It was not a logical feeling, since she hadn’t even known him then, but she couldn’t really shake it. And she didn’t know if hearing about his history would make things better or worse, but she couldn’t help herself. She was too curious. 

“Was your first time a disaster too? Or I guess it’s different for guys, huh?” she asked the one question that she hoped didn’t make her sound like a jealous, possessive, prying bitch. Perhaps she could trick him into telling her what she wanted to know from there…?  _ Ok, so you are really out of line here, Ellen Lane-Kent… _ she gave herself a mental slap for being so nosy. 

“I think it is actually… it wasn’t a disaster, but it also didn’t exactly make me see stars… It was a bit different…” he hesitated, as if he was ashamed to tell her about it.

“Different?”

“Yeah… Ok, so this may seem a bit weird… But you know I was always a science geek, right?” she shrugged in response “Well, my best friend in high school was just like me. And she had read up on the subject you never did… and came to the conclusion that she didn’t want to ruin any perfectly good relationship she might get into in the future with bad sex. And as it is common knowledge that guys are usually also really nervous and insecure about their first time, although for different reasons, she suggested we should just do it with each other to take the pressure off and get some experience.” he shrugged and gave her a look that clearly said he expected her to be shocked at this revelation.

“Wow, that’s different… but I guess it wasn’t such a stupid idea, considering what I just told you about myself… So how did it go? I mean, sleeping with a friend must have been weird, right?” 

“Well, it was a bit awkward at first, to be honest. And perhaps more comical than romantic, to say the least… We were more or less following a manual...” he smiled at the memory “But it wasn’t that bad to tell you the truth. Perhaps it wasn’t as ideal or romantic as if you’ve saved yourself for the love of your life or something, but it was better than being drunk at a party and doing it with someone you hardly knew, and regretting it afterwards, which was what most of our friends did…”

“Makes sense I guess… Are you still friends with her?” Ellen asked innocently, hoping that the answer wasn’t that it was Liz or some of the other gamers he still did hang out with.

“Yeah, I am. It was Emma. But we have really never been anything but friends, so you don’t have to worry about anything with her…” he said with a smile, and Ellen felt ashamed that he had seen through her innocent question that easily. 

“I’m not worried, just curious…” she lied “...are there any exes I  _ should  _ be worried about?” she asked.

Alex shook his head and laughed. It was almost funny that Ellen was so insecure. He didn’t really think she would be a jealous girlfriend, once she understood how he felt about her, or at least he didn’t hope so, but it was kinda cute that she felt threatened by him having a history at all. He pulled her into his arms and buried his face in her neck, kissing her gently.

“You don’t have to worry about anything Ellen. You know that right? I told you, I’ve never met anyone like you and I meant it…” he whispered.

“I know, I guess… I’m sorry that I’m being so nosy… But I just told you my entire dating history…” she smiled.

“That was your entire dating history…?” he said, incredulously.

“Yeah, more or less. I never had a boyfriend before Mike, and we only went out for like a month… I may have made out a bit with some guy at parties from time to time, especially during my senior year in High School when I just wanted to be like everybody else… but other than that, my experience is zero, so you’ll just have to have some patience with me…” she said.

“Wow, I just find that so hard to believe... “

“I know, but it’s not because I was never asked out you know…” she gave him a wink “but I always had a hard time letting people get close to me. It’s a bit better now that I don’t live at home anymore, but… Damn… I wasn’t going to bring this up yet, but I hate keeping things from you… can I tell you a secret?”

“Sure…”

“Or, the thing is… I can’t really tell you... yet. But there is something about my family that they don’t want everyone to know. Kind of a bit like Leo didn’t want everyone to know he was a Queen, remember?” she looked at Alex, and he nodded “Unfortunately it’s not the same thing, God knows I wish we had unlimited resources too from time to time…”

“Who wouldn’t…” Alex laughed, but then got a bit serious.. “And this is all I’m getting now, right?” he lifted one eyebrow.

“Yeah… sorry… I will tell you, as soon as I can, I promise you. I hate keeping secrets, but sometimes it’s necessary. It’s not just our secret, and people could get hurt if it came out so I have to get permission first. But it’s hopefully nothing you will hate me for in the end…” she smiled a sad little smile.

“Now I’m not curious at all…” he said sarcastically “...but don’t worry, I know secrets can sometimes be necessary.” he added, thinking about his own plans to someday work for the Justice League or some secret government agency. If that ever became reality, he would have to do a lot of lying, to all his friends and to Ellen if they were still together, so it would have been a bit hypocritical of him to blame her for keeping secrets.

“Great… so is your dating history a secret, or will you tell me…?” she smirked.

“You’re not going to let me off the hook, are you?” he shook his head in resignation.

In the end, he told her about his previous experiences, hoping it might calm her down a bit to know that he didn’t have a lot of ex girlfriends either. His only steady girlfriend had been a High School crush he was together with for about half his senior year, and she had been his first lover, except the experiment with Emma. She had turned out to be something of a nympho actually, which wasn’t at all as great as it may sound at first. Especially guys always thought that it was a dream come true to have a girlfriend who always wanted sex. But even though Alex liked sex as much as the next guy, he also wanted other things from a relationship, if he was to have one, and she never wanted to do anything else, hardly even talk to him. And she always got pissed if he wasn’t in the mood. And she had been hysterically jealous, especially of Emma, and he had to lie about having any contact with her. In the end, he had decided that girlfriends weren’t really for him, and he had ended it, which had made her go crazy stalker on him for a while. Naturally, he realized that all girls weren’t as demanding, but at that point, he had started to think about his plans for the future and decided it just wasn’t worth it to have a steady girlfriend who controlled his time. After that, he had only been with two girls. One he had hooked up with at MetCon last year who had been dressed up as Princess Zelda from the old Nintendo classic. He had been her counterpart hero, Link, and they had immediately found each other. But it had only been a one night thing, he didn’t even get her number. Then he had met Liz at a gaming convention last summer and they had a kind of a fling over the summer. But he had made it clear from the start it wouldn’t last, since he wouldn’t have time for it once the semester started at Met U, and she had claimed to be ok with that. She had dragged him home a couple of times after that too, but he had always assumed it was only casual. When Ellen told him again that she thought Liz had feelings for him, he felt a bit bad for the way he had been treating her. But how was he supposed to know she hadn’t been honest with him? 

Even though Ellen felt a bit ashamed about pushing him to tell her all about his ex girlfriends, she was happy she had done it in one way. Her secret fear had been that there would be some ex who had dumped him, and whom he wasn’t really over, that had made him reluctant to start dating again, but now she finally believed that his fear of commitment was really about losing control over his life and his time. Well, she wasn’t going to do that to him, even if she felt like she could spend all her time with him right now if he would let her. For starters, she didn’t want him to think she wasn’t going to want to play games and stuff he liked to do anymore just because they were together, so she suggested it was about time they got to the gaming part of game night. 

Ellen picked a Super Smash Bros battle to start with, since Alex hadn’t played that much of classic Nintendo games, and it was always her best chance to win, and they played for a couple of hours. In the end, it had been Alex who had taken the initiative to some more relaxing activities, and they had spent a good half hour making out on the couch again, but a bit slower and more romantic than the first round of the evening. After a while, she just enjoyed lying on top of him, legs intertwined with his and her head resting on his chest. She loved the feeling of his body against hers, and the way his heart beat steadily in her ear. He had wrapped his arms around her and buried his face in her hair, and they both fell asleep. 

*

When the others came home around 2 am, they found Alex and Ellen sleeping on the couch.

“Aww… that’s so cute…” Holly sniggered.

“What’s wrong with this picture? We leave them alone for the whole evening and they still have clothes on when we get back?” Leo shook his head in disbelief.

“Hey, that’s my sister you’re talking about. She’s an honorable woman, you know…” Cal said. 

“Oh, and I’m not since you never let me keep my clothes on for a whole evening?” Viola asked, hands to her sides. 

“I thought it was you who won’t let me keep my clothes on…?” Cal smiled and wrapped her up in his arms. “And for the record, I’m not complaining…” he added quickly and kissed her. 

“We should leave the gamer nerds alone… they probably prefer sticking to virtual sex anyway…” Leo laughed. 

“I think we should wake them up, poor Alex won’t be able to feel his arms anymore if Ellen sleeps on top of him all night like that…” Holly said.

“Hey, are you calling me heavy?” Ellen yawned and sat up on the couch. 

The others disappeared into their bedrooms and Ellen and Alex were left alone in the living room again, but Alex was still sleeping. She kissed him gently on the lips to wake him up.

“Hey you, I think we fell asleep…” she said softly.

“Damn. What time is it?”

“I think it’s about 2 am…” 

“Oh, crap... I have to go home…” he sighed and didn’t seem all too intrigued with this idea.

“You can stay here if you want to?” Ellen suggested. 

“Yeah, maybe I can crash on your couch. I didn’t take the car and I really don’t feel like walking back home right now…” he yawned.

“Oh, come on… you can sleep in my room… or don’t you want that unless we…” she said uncertainty.

“Um, sure… if you want me to… I think I can keep my hands to myself…” he smiled at her.

“I really want you to…” she mumbled and took his hand. “I think I have some old pyjama bottoms and t-shirts that I stole from Cal that might fit you…” she said and dragged him along. 

Alex got dressed in the clothes Ellen had found for him and sat down on her bed. He usually preferred sleeping in just his boxers, but this time clothes would probably be a good idea if he was to share a bed with Ellen and be able to resist touching her. A lot of clothes. If they started to make out in bed, he would probably need a cold shower before being able to get any shuteye at all that night. But he didn’t want to protest either… He was glad that she trusted him enough to let him sleep in her bed when she was so scared of intimacy, but he couldn’t deny that it was going to be a bit hard. He loved to be close to her and just feel her and kiss her too, but she was just so irresistibly hot that it was hard to focus sometimes. He had never met someone who could turn him on like that, and patience was slowly becoming difficult. Not to mention he hadn’t had sex for quite a long time. Usually, he was proud not to be a horny bastard, and he was kind of used to the girls he had been with before being the ones to try to get into his pants. Now, he could somehow sympathize with those guys who seemed to have their brains full of only one thing - Ellen somehow got to him in a way no one else had. But he could do this, he had strong self control, after all. Until….

“Are you kidding me?” he said and swallowed hard.

“What?” 

“That’s what you are planning on wearing?”

“You don’t like it…?”

“Jeez, Ellen… I said I can be patient, and I did promise to keep my hands to myself… I still stand by that promise. But there’s no need to torture me, you know…?” he shook his head and sighed at her. What the hell was she playing at wearing that flimsy piece of nothing when she claimed all she wanted to do was sleep?

Ellen at least had the decency to feel a bit ashamed. Ok, so she had been happy he was so understanding, and she really just intended to sleep next to him tonight. But she had still wanted him to appreciate the way she looked… She wasn’t normally insecure about her appearance. She knew more than well that most guys found her hot, and that she had a body other women envied. The truth was that she usually dressed kind of like a tomboy in order to avoid getting hit on all the time. She was genuinely sick of guys wolf whistling when she passed by on the street, and she really wanted to be seen as more than a piece of ass. But it was different with Alex. True, he had showed another side tonight, where he had seemed really eager and he had said he found her hot, but she still wasn’t really over how indifferent he always had seemed to be earlier. Like that time on the beach when she had asked him to rub her with sunscreen, and he had just shrugged and said that he was in the middle of something in his notes, and hardly even looked up. When she was on the beach, wearing a bikini, she was used to guys drooling all over her, much to her annoyance normally. But Alex had hardly given her a second glance and he was the one guy she actually wanted to look…

“Sorry, I didn’t realize I had that effect on you…” she shrugged innocently,

“Are you just playing dumb now or are you deliberately trying to drive me crazy…?” he raised his eyebrows, keeping his gaze determinately focused on her face. Then he threw himself down on the bed and put a pillow over his face.

“No, I’m not trying to drive you crazy… not more than I’m driving myself crazy, you know…” She tried to rip the pillow away from him and get him to look at her again, laughing.

“It’s stupid, but I can’t help being a bit insecure with you… Like when we were on the beach before the party, and you didn’t even look at me. And not many guys would have said no to rubbing my back with sunscreen, you know… So I thought you might not be as… I don’t know… fascinated... by seeing my body as other guys…” she smiled again. “But I can put on a t-shirt instead if it will help…” she suggested.

“Yes please…” he muttered from under the pillow. Then he turned around and supported his head on an elbow. “You know, for a smart girl, you can be quite stupid sometimes…” he paraphrased what she had said when she first asked him out. “I might be equally interested in your brilliant mind, but I’m just human after all; I’m not made of stone just because I’m smart… What do you think would have happened if I had rubbed your back with sunscreen or just dared to even look at you in that bikini…? I can tell you that the fact that I saw you as something other than a friend would have been very much visible to everybody present on that beach that day... and it wasn’t really something I necessarily wanted to show off…” 

“Oh…” she said blankly.

“Exactly… It just never ceases to amaze me how you can be so insecure…”

“It’s just with you… I love you so much Alex, and you were so reluctant to go out with me at first, I guess I’m just scared I will not be what you wished for and I will lose you…”

He opened his mouth to protest, but she hushed him and continued.

“I’m sorry if I’m sending you mixed signals about this, but I’m just confused myself… I didn’t want slow because I don’t want you… It’s because I’m scared I’ll screw it up if I let you on and then I can’t go through with it… But at the same time, I find it hard to resist myself. Just hearing that you find me hot turns me on as hell…” she said, voice a bit husky now as she lied down beside him on the bed.

“You know I promised you that won’t happen… Ok, so it would be hard for me to stop if we got too far, I can’t deny that. But I can and I would do it and I would never hold it against you, ever. It’s your body and I would never want to do anything to you that you don’t one hundred percent enjoy, you know. That’s not the kind of guy I am… and that’s what cold showers are for, after all…” he said and winked at her playfully.

“I know… Sorry for making things so complicated…” she whispered as she crept closer to him. “Forgive me..?” she asked trying her best puppy eyes at him.

“Always...” he laughed at her cute expression. “So let’s try to go to sleep then…” he wrapped his arm around her and pulled her into an embrace, lying on his back with her pressed flush to his side. 

“Ok, good night…” she said and pushed herself a bit up to be able to kiss him gently on the lips. 

She had meant for it to be an innocent goodnight kiss, she really had. But his lips felt so soft and warm and wonderful she couldn’t help but linger a bit longer. She swiped gently with her tongue against his lips, and they parted slightly to allow her acces. Her brain tried to remind her of the conversation they just had and her wish for them to only sleep, and how ashamed she had been to send him mixed signals like that, but it was no good. Her body didn’t seem to obey. Instead her treacherous hands started to creep up inside of his t-shirt and her leg slid over his as she pulled herself up lying half on top of him while the kiss deepened. She had put a t-shirt on, but no pyjama bottoms, and she felt his hand stroke her naked thigh and slowly snake its way up to her bottom, feeling the fabric of her laced panties under them. She felt him grow hard against her leg again, but her brain had given up and gone on hiatus. Instead she felt her own desire grow impossibly intense when she felt the effect she had on him and she couldn’t stop herself from pushing her now throbbing sex against his erection. They both moaned out loudly and she felt herself become soaking wet. It was nothing like she had ever felt before, and somewhere her hazy brain registered the feeling with a surprised  _ Oh, so this is what it’s supposed to feel like when you are turned on?  _ She had thought she had been ready for Mike that time, but she hadn’t even felt anything close to this, even after an hour of foreplay. Now she had been making out with Alex for like five minutes and his hands on her butt and his hardness against her groin had been enough to set her on fire. 

“We probably should stop now if we want to be able to sleep at all tonight…” he whispered in a raw and husky voice in her ear. She looked into his eyes and saw that they were almost black with desire. She felt her pulse quicken even more and something tugged violently in her lower belly when she met his hungry gaze. She swallowed hard.

“I don’t want to stop...It feels so good being close to you. You feel so good…I don’t know how to stop anymore...” she whispered back.

“If you want to, we can just touch… We don’t have to go all the way. But I would really like to pleasure you if you’d let me…” he said and she only nodded, unable to speak. 

***

He turned them around so she was on her back and he was lying on his side. He pulled her t-shirt off and this time she didn’t stop him. “God, you’re beautiful Ellen…” he said softly, drinking her body in with his eyes. “Just relax, ok? And stop me at once if I do anything that doesn’t feel good!” he whispered in her ear and started kissing her from her ear, down to her neck and collarbone, while his left hand was stroking her torso gently. She moaned and wiggled under his touch, feeling the electric pulses from his kisses, but really missing the pressure from his body against her core. But his hands kept travelling gently down her body, changing directions when he came to her knee and he continued stroking up the inside of her thighs while his lips reached her hard nipples. Her body shivered with anticipation as his hand closed in on her center, and she whimpered as he brushed against her wet panties. She twisted her hands into his hair and pushed his face closer to her chest, wanting him to kiss her breasts more, harder, deeper, and he did. He pushed the fabric of her panties to the side and gently rubbed one finger through her wetness and started massaging her clit. She moaned loudly and whispered “Oh, God Alex…” as the pleasure was building up in her body. His mouth traced its way back to her lips and he started kissing her deeply while he very gently slid first one and then two fingers into her wet core. She felt her desire building up to unbearable levels and her body was aching for him, for more. She pushed herself eagerly against his hand and moaned out his name again.

“I don’t care anymore, I’m not scared. I want you Alex. Make love to me…” she whispered, but he hushed her again.

“Not now, I’m going to make you come for me first, and then we’ll see about that…” he said and massaged her clit a bit quicker as he felt her rhythm against his fingers increasing. He went back to massaging her nipples with his tongue again and suddenly he felt her body arch as her insides were cramping around his fingers when she climaxed with his name on her lips. 

“Oh, God.. I can’t believe you just did that… I didn’t know it could feel so good… I think I’m starting to get what the fuss is about now...” she panted and kissed him.

“What, you never even had anyone give you an orgasm before?” he asked, surprised. 

“No, I told you… I don’t even know if I’ve ever really had one before…” she said thoughtfully, “nothing that felt like that anyway… It was amazing…” she smiled at him and he shook his head in disbelief.

“Wow, you’ve been missing out…” he said with a smile.

“I’m starting to understand that…” she answered. 

“But what about you…?” she suddenly asked, feeling a bit bad that he had given her so much pleasure and she hadn’t done anything for him yet.

“Don’t worry about me… It’s rewarding enough to see you happy…” he said and kissed her again. 

She kissed him back, feeling the warmth grow in her body again when her heart rate slowed down. She wasn’t really satisfied yet, even though she had found her much needed release. And she wanted him to enjoy it too.

“But I want to feel you, can I...touch you?” she asked, a bit shyly.

“Ellen, you can do whatever you want with me…” he laughed a bit at her polite request. 

She pushed him back on the bed and straddled him, starting to pull off his t-shirt. He stretched up his arms to help her rid him of the garment, and then he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her down in a kiss. It felt so good to have his warm, naked chest pressed against her body and for a while she just stayed in his embrace, slowly kissing him. He turned her around again so they were laying on their sides and she pulled down his pyjama bottoms down a bit with one hand, continuing to catch it with her foot and pushing it down without even breaking the kiss. She could feel his erection through the thin fabric of his boxers and she felt the desire stir in her lower belly again. She pressed her breasts even more firmly against his chest and wrapped one thigh around his hip. This made his erection press against her core again and she felt the pleasure of friction building up, and she was moaning loudly once more. He was really managing to turn her on like no one else before. He didn’t even have to do anything much… But she suddenly remembered her mission, and she reached down between them and into his boxers, gently wrapping her hand around him, making him groan loudly this time. But as she started to stroke him slowly, feeling his body twitch under her touch, she knew what he had meant about the reward of giving pleasure, because it was making her own desire grow to almost unbearable heights again. She suddenly desperately wanted him, no, needed him, inside of her. Now. She just knew it wouldn’t hurt and she couldn’t wait anymore. 

“Please Alex, I want you… I want to feel you inside of me…” she whispered in his ear.

“Are you sure…?” he asked gently. “We don’t have to do that tonight…” 

“I’m sure… I want to. Please…” she almost begged now.

“Ok, I’ll take it slow, I promise… and I’ll stop if you tell me to, ok?” 

“Ok…” she said, shivering with anticipation as he pushed her panties down while he kissed her again and started massaging her clit, making her moan loudly.

“Do you have any protection? I think I have in my bag, but it’s still in the living room…” he suddenly remembered.

“In the night stand…” she panted and reached out for the drawer.

He pushed off his boxers and rolled the condom down his length, while she lay back spreading her legs in anticipation. But he shook his head and pulled her towards him to position them on the side again, with her thigh around his hip, as they had been before. He knew the missionary wasn’t necessarily the best position to give a woman pleasure, especially if she was a bit tense. He didn’t want to risk thrusting too hard into her and hurting her in the spur of the moment. They lay like that for a while, his erection pressing against her core and his hands stroking her back and her bottom while he kissed her eagerly, and when he felt her relaxing and starting to wiggle against him again, he looked into her eyes, silently asking for permission. She nodded slightly but he still didn’t enter her at once. He guided his tip along her entrance, soaking it in her wetness and massaged her clit with his erection. She moaned loudly again, feeling the pleasure building up in her body. She was almost scared she was going to come again before he even entered her, but as she eagerly rocked against him, he suddenly changed positions slightly and slid inside her. He just stayed there and held her bottom in his hand, pressing her against him while his mouth explored hers. She cramped a little bit at first when he entered her, but more out of fear than pain. When he just stayed there, letting her get used to his presence, while he kissed her, she slowly relaxed and allowed herself to feel him. And she realized it was an amazing feeling having him inside of her. He didn’t move, but she felt his erection throbbing slightly and it left her wanting more. She groaned and wiggled a bit, squeezing his bottom to get him even closer. When he felt her body relax, he slowly began to move inside of her, still holding her lips in his. She started to meet his thrusts and arched her body back, breaking the kiss and moaning loudly now. He kissed her neck instead, and pulled her thigh higher up his back to reach a bit deeper.

“Oh fuck, Alex… yes… oh…god yes...” she panted heavily and let out an incoherent stream of words as she followed his movements. The pleasure was building up inside her whole body, she was scared she was going to explode. Then she felt a tingling feeling starting to spread from her center down her legs as she quickly climbed towards climax again. She was quivering around him and he picked up the pace a bit, thrusting a little harder and groaning loudly too. She screamed his name out loud as she fell over the edge and he felt his climax coming too as her body squeezed him. He thrusted hard a couple of more times, and emptied himself into her with one last, twitching, non-rhythmical push, groaning loudly. 

He hugged her tightly into his embrace, still staying inside her, as they both panted heavily, hearts hammering in their chests. They kissed again and she fell back, limp into his arms, as he turned around a bit and pulled out of her, carefully making sure the condom didn’t fall off. 

***

“Oh God… that was just… wow… Alex… God...“ she wanted him to know how amazing it had felt, and how happy she was and how much she loved him, but she couldn’t manage to form a real sentence. But she really didn’t have to say anything; he knew exactly how she felt, because he felt it too. It wasn’t as if he had never had satisfying sex before, but even if he had had to do most of the work himself this time, it was still the best experience he had ever had. And it was probably due to as simple a thing as mixing love into the equation. He had never really been in love before, and he had to admit it really made a difference. Lying here with Ellen in his arms, he didn’t only feel the sweet sensation of relief and relaxation in the afterglow, he felt his heart swell with pure happiness. 

Alex smiled at her and stroked the hair out of her face, kissing her gently on the forehead. He had to admit, he felt a bit relieved too. Not that he had expected much else; he hadn’t thought for a second that there was something wrong with Ellen apart from the fact that she had been overthinking her first, bad experience. But you never knew… and she could have been so anxious that she hadn’t been able to relax at all. 

“So I guess there isn’t anything wrong with you after all…” he whispered softly in her ear and kissed her again. He didn’t seem to be able to stop kissing her. He had never been much of a cuddler before, and after sex he had usually preferred to get up and do some work on his computer while his mind was so wonderfully relaxed. But as everything was different with Ellen, it shouldn’t have come as a surprise to him that he now felt like he never wanted to leave her bed, ever again, instead. 

She smiled back at him, finally starting to catch her breath again. “I guess not…” she said. “ Now I definitely know what all the fuss is about... “ she added.

“Uhum…” he nodded and raised his eyebrows with a smile. 

“I mean, it was absolutely amazing. I could never have imagined it in my wildest dreams. I might never let you out of my bed again, you know…” she said with a mischievous grin. 

“Oh ye, terrible faith…” he joked and she sat up across his legs and hit him playfully with a pillow.

“Stop… I’m just kidding… spare me…” he laughed and tried to protect himself with his hands, but when she didn’t stop, he grabbed her waist and wrestled her down, pinning her to the bed with him on top of her. She didn’t resist him though, even if she probably could have easily, even with her blue k bracelet turned on. He captured her hands and held them over her head, as he bent down to kiss her again.

“You know, I was actually just thinking that I might never  _ want _ to leave your bed…” he said, huskily…

“I’m glad you enjoyed it too… I mean, I don’t have much experience to contribute with....” she said a bit uncertainly.

“What you may lack in knowledge you make up for by just being generally amazing…” he smiled, and then he added, more seriously, “I love you Ellen. And I just realized it makes all the difference… It was incredible, I promise…”.

“Good…” she said with a satisfied expression… ”because I love you too and I’m never letting you sleep with anyone else, ever again…” she smiled, but then she added “I just wish I had waited for you… I shouldn’t have done it with Mike, it was a mistake.” she sighed.

“Yeah, but look at it on the bright side… at least now you know you’re not missing out on anything… I mean, if you hadn’t been with anyone before, you might have thought sex is always this good, or that it might even be better. Now you know that sex with Alex is fantastic, and with everyone else, it is just terrible…” he said smugly.

“You’re cute…” she said and kissed him again. “But you know, how do I know you weren’t just lucky… you might just have to prove to me that it’ll always be that great…” she whispered and pulled him down on top of her as she felt the heat starting to pool in her lower belly again. 

*

Alex woke up with a start, trying to find his way back to reality after the weird dream he had been having. He and Ellen had made love floating on a cloud, but suddenly he had lost his grip on her and she had fallen down, out of his arms and his sight and he had woken up. His heart was pounding heavily in his chest but he felt himself calm down as he laid eyes on her sleeping form in the bed. He lay down beside her and snuggled her close into his chest. She was just so beautiful, so warm and she smelled so sweet. As he became aware of her naked body pressing against his, he sighed and realized it would be really difficult to go back to sleep again… He checked the clock; but it was only half past six. They had slept less than four hours, he couldn’t wake her up now. 

Instead, he got up, pulled on the pyjama bottoms and a t-shirt, and tip toed out into the kitchen. Luckily, he never went far without his laptop, and he had just had an idea for how to solve a problem he was having with his latest project. He poured himself a glass of water, sat down in the semi dark kitchen and opened the computer, starting to hammer away at the keyboard. 

When Ellen came out into the kitchen, about an hour later, he had just finished writing the code that he figured would solve his problem, and he felt excited as he pressed the enter button to run his program. 

“Hey, what are you doing up?” Ellen asked. “I thought you had abandoned me…” she smiled.

“Yeah, you know, I got what I came for so I snuck out to avoid the awkward morning after…” he said with a grin. “Seriously...I couldn’t sleep, so I just decided to get some work done… but now my simulation will be running for a couple of hours and you’re awake, so I’ll gladly come back to bed and you can help me relax a bit…” he pulled her into an embrace and started trailing light kisses down her neck.

They fell asleep again, with their bodies tangled together, after making love for the third time. Ellen still had a happy grin on her face when she woke up again two hours later by someone pounding on her bedroom door. 

“Hey, Ellen… wake up. Mom’s here…” Callum yelled at her. He did not want to enter the bedroom, thinking he might walk in on something he didn’t really want to see.

“Oh, crap… I forgot I was going to go shopping with mom today…. what time is it?” she asked the room in general as she groggily sat up in bed.

“It’s almost ten… Your mom’s here…? Oh, this won’t be awkward…” Alex sighed, starting to pull on his pyjamas again. 

“Don’t worry, you met her at the Christmas party already, remember…?” 

“Yeah, but then I didn’t come out of her daughters room with bedroom hair…” he muttered. 

“You can take a shower before you say hi if you want to…” she smirked at him.

“Or I’ll just hide in here until you’re gone shopping and then I’ll sneak out?” 

“Nope, you won’t. You can bet Cal’s already told her I’ve got company and if you don’t introduce yourself she’ll think you’re a coward. Or she’ll barge in here and hunt you down… Subtleness isn’t really her thing…” Ellen laughed.

“Wow, I’m glad you didn’t inherit that trait then…” he said sarcastically.

*

Lois and Chloe sat in the kitchen drinking coffee when Cal came back from his mission to wake Ellen up. He had just let them in and asked Viola to make coffee before going to pound on Ellen’s door. 

“So… why can’t I go wake my own daughter up…? And why is she still sleeping when she knows we have shopping day today… Did you tell her Chlo’s here too?” Lois asked suspiciously.

“Eeehhh… The answer to the first two questions is that she might not exactly be alone in there… and the answer to the last one is no…” Cal said innocently. 

“What!? Who’s there? She’s got a boyfriend? How long have they been dating? Is he nice? What does he do? Has he spent the night before? Why didn’t anyone tell me…?” Lois started to fire questions until Cal held up his hands in surrender.

“Ok, ok… stop it. First of all, I’m not even sure he’s there, but as he hadn’t left when we went to bed and his laptop is still here I would guess so is he…” Cal nodded in the direction of Alex’s computer that was still standing on the table running some kind of program.

“And no, he hasn’t spent the night before…” Cal continued “...they have only been officially dating for like three weeks actually. But she’s been friends with him much longer, he’s been hanging out here a lot lately. Mom, you already met him at the Christmas Party we had here at the apartment… Alex, remember? Brown hair, glasses...probably wearing some kind of geek t-shirt?” 

“Oh, yeah… I know exactly who that is. Ellen’s been talking a lot about him, but she always claimed they were just friends. Ha, I knew there was something going on…”

“Alex… that’s the hacker guy, right? “ Chloe asked with narrowed eyes and an interested look on her face. It was almost as if she knew something the others didn’t. “So, this is his…?” she asked, studying the computer.

“Yeah, he’s a computer science major and he’s always working on some program… Although why he set it up in our kitchen in the middle of the night beats me…”

“Maybe he couldn’t sleep and he got an idea… that happens to me all the time too...“ Chloe said thoughtfully.

“So you’re telling me he stays over with his girlfriend for the first time, wakes up in the middle of the night and thinks ‘hm, I think I’ll do some programming’...? Poor Ellen… I’ll have to talk some sense into him…” Viola snickered.

“Vi…” Cal sighed and rolled his eyes but Lois and Chloe just laughed at her. 

*

“Aunt Chloe… I didn’t know you were in Metropolis! Great to see you…” Ellen exclaimed and threw her arms around the blond woman’s neck as soon as she came into the kitchen.

“Hi. I’m here too, you know… How about ‘Welcome Mom, nice to see you… I would like to introduce you to someone’…” Lois said sarcastically looking between Ellen and Alex.

“Oh, sorry… yeah. You’ve met Alex at the Christmas Party already… right?” 

“Hi Mrs Lane… Nice to meet you again ” Alex said politely, looking rather embarrassed as he stretched out his hands toward her.

“Please, call me Lois… and it is great to finally meet you again. I’ve heard all about you… Except for that you were dating my daughter…” she sent a glare at Ellen and Alex blushed even deeper.

“Mom! Please… We’ve hardly seen each other for the last month… do you expect me to call you every time something happens in our lives…?”

“Yes, I do actually… At least when something interesting happens…” she smiled at them and wiggled her eyebrows. 

Ellen rolled her eyes at Lois and introduced Alex to Chloe instead. She immediately started asking about the program he had running on his computer.

“What are you doing there? Is it a school project…?” she asked

“No, it’s just a little thing I wrote for fun...wanted to try an algorithm with probabilities…”

“So, what does it do…?”

“Eeh… I kinda hacked Apple’s new personal assistant actually, and I’m trying to make it smarter by teaching it some of my habits along with this probability distribution algorithm cross referenced with some trend analysis data… basically I’m hoping it will be able to predict what I want to do and make appropriate suggestions as well as to give me new ideas. Like what bus I should be taking, what to wear, or what to order for dinner on a given day and stuff… Nothing important, it’s just for fun….” he explained. 

“Wow, that’s some serious hacking skills… I thought the new assistant was supposed to be almost impossible to crack open… Interesting to add the probability algorithm into the equation too…” she studied the data rolling over the screen for a while.

“The only problem is that my laptop hasn’t really got enough power to do this… And I don’t want to connect it to the network at the university, cause...eeeh...I’m not sure it is exactly legal…” he gave her a sheepish look. “But I’m just doing it for fun… It’s not like I’m planning to spread the code on the internet or anything…” he added quickly.

“You do know I am head of the cyber security department at Queen industries, right?” she gave him a fake stern look and bit back a laugh at his horrified expression.

“Don’t worry, I’m just messing with you. We don’t have any specific interests in protecting Apple’s programs…” she winked at him “I actually do think it’s a really interesting thing you are doing here… I might have something that could help with your lack of computing power...” she added. 

She went out into the hallway, beckoning for Alex to follow her and after a quick glance at Ellen, who smiled and rolled her eyes, he grabbed his computer and did. At that moment, Lois’s phone rang and she went out in the living room to answer it so Ellen and Viola were left alone in the kitchen. 

“Great, she’s showing him the office… now I will never get him out of there...” Ellen sighed.

“Sooooo…” Viola said and made a face at Ellen, who naturally knew exactly what she wanted to know.

“What?” she said, making an innocent face.

“Oh, come on… you’ve got to give me something here…?” Viola pleaded and Ellen couldn’t manage to keep a straight face anymore.

“Yes, I knew it!” Viola exclaimed doing a victorious gesture with her fist when she saw Ellen’s ridiculously big grin.

“Let’s just say that you were right about some things… and so was that obnoxious Liz-girl. I think I’m going to write to her and thank her for the tip to sleep with a smart guy…” she smiled smugly. 

“So it was good then, huh?” Viola asked although she already saw the answer on Ellen’s face.

“It was absolutely amazing… I kind of start to understand why you guys always shut yourselves up in the bedroom… I just don’t know how I’m going to ever want to do anything else again… Alex is probably going to think I’m a bit needy if I show up on his doorstep every night. Or if I just lock him up in my bedroom and never let him out again…” she said thoughtfully.

Viola just laughed at her. “You’re funny… first you worry about not liking sex, and now you worry about liking it too much…?” 

*

“Ellen, can I ask you something about Alex?” Chloe looked at her niece thoughtfully where she sat across the table outside of the small café, spooning up a big bite of chocolate cake. They had spent a couple of hours going through all of their favourite stores and now they had sat down for a much needed break in the shadow to rest their feet.

“Sure, what is it?”

“How well do you know him?” Chloe asked, and Lois studied them curiously, not at all knowing what Chloe was after. She thought Alex seemed like a very nice person. He was a bit shy, but cute and obviously really smart. And he seemed to be extremely smitten with Ellen, which really was all Lois cared about. 

“Eeehhh.. I think I know him pretty well. I mean, we have been friends since Viola and Cal got back together, and Vi knew him a bit before that. I guess there are sides to him he doesn’t talk much about, but it is mostly because he has interests I don’t really share. Like online gaming, and his science stuff… Why do you ask?”

“Do you think he’s trustworthy?”

“Trustworthy?”

“Yeah, I mean… do you trust him? Apart from that you’re obviously in love with him… do you think there is any chance he would be mixed up in something shady… or that he knows any questionable people?” Chloe asked, a little scared of Ellen’s reaction.

“No! Never… why would you say that?” she almost snapped at her aunt, feeling a bit insulted at the accusation. 

“Relax Ellen, I’m not accusing him of anything… It’s just… when I helped him set up his program on our computer so he could do his calculations quicker we talked a bit and he showed me a bit of his programs… And he promised me not to try to hack into any of my files if he could use the equipment, but he probably could if he wanted to. He’s a really skilled hacker, you know that right, Ellen…?”

“Yeah, I know he’s a geek... He hacked my computer once… but only to send me a message, it was kinda cute…” she smiled at the memory, but Chloe frowned a bit.

“I mean, he’s  _ really _ skilled… I kind of have this hunch that he’s going to be one of the very best one day. I just want to be sure he doesn’t use his powers for evil, if you know what I mean…” she joked, but she added more seriously “Even if I don’t keep anything that important on my server at the apartment, getting access to any of our data, or to yours for that matter Ellen… He could find out about stuff, you know…? And if he’s as smart as I think he is, he wouldn’t need much to put the pieces together...” she said thoughtfully.

“So why don’t you let me tell him the truth? Or you could…? And he might be useful to the League too…” Ellen said, arms crossed.

“I know… and the thought actually did cross my mind, though we don’t really know if he would like to do that, I mean, it’s no regular nine to five job... And it’s a big step to let someone like him in, even bigger than telling any of your more normal friends you know. If he turned on us he could be really dangerous.”

“I don’t think you have anything to worry about with Alex. I know I’m biased, but he’s really a good person. Actually, the reason he was reluctant to go out with me in the first place was that he wants to do something important with his life and he was scared that committing to a relationship might stand in the way of that since he doesn’t want a normal life… It’s one of the reasons I’ve dared to get involved with him - he’s one of the few guys I’ve met who I don’t think will freak out when he eventually finds out about me…” Ellen explained. 

“Maybe you could start doing some initial digging Chlo… I mean, nothing personal, just the basic background check? And then we’ll make sure we get to know him better…” Lois suggested. 

“Ok, but in the meantime, you will be careful what you tell him though, Ellen? And you have to promise to come to me if you find anything suspicious about his activities…?” Chloe gave Ellen a stern look.

“I promise…” she sighed, although she thought her aunt was a bit paranoid. True, she didn’t really know Alex, but come on… the guy was an innocent computer geek, right? Dangerous… what crap! 

“I do think he’s one of the good guys Ellen, I don’t want you to worry. It’s just… I have to be sure, you know…” Chloe said thoughtfully, and almost seemed to zone out for a while. Ellen was curious - it was like she knew something the others didn’t. But she knew Chloe better than to try to pry information from her. Nobody could keep secrets like Chloe Sullivan Queen. 


	25. The Wave

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which a mystery needs solving and Alex reveals a secret...

Over the next couple of weeks Ellen and Alex did spend a whole lot of time together, to Ellen’s delight. As Cal had gone to the Fortress, Leo had invited Holly to go with him to their summer residence and Viola was spending a couple of weeks in Europe, she would have been bored otherwise. And Alex was a bit more relaxed now that the finals were over and they were on summer holidays. Not that he would have admitted it to anyone in a million years, but he started to get a bit addicted to falling asleep with Ellen in his arms too. Not good. But he was on a break, after all, he convinced himself. As soon as the term started again, he would get a grip and get back on track with his work. Today, she had even managed to convince him to go to the beach again, but it wasn’t so bad. They had met up with Tom and Bea, who Alex started to suspect were actually dating now, behind their teammates’ backs. Well, good for them…

Ellen was going for a swim with Bea while Alex tried to work a bit on his latest project, but Tom convinced him they should get some ice cream for the girls. They stood in line, talking, when Alex heard a familiar voice behind him.

“Hi Alex… It’s been a while.... How are you, man? Funny finding you on the beach and not glued to a screen somewhere!” 

A gamer friend Alex used to play a lot with in the past, but whom he hadn’t seen since he moved to Central City a bit more than a year ago greeted him with a handshake.

“I’m great actually… I’m just trying to enjoy the summer hols…” Alex said, trying not to look embarrassed.

“...and also, his girlfriend made him come.” Tom teased him.

“Yeah, well, that too…” Alex rolled his eyes at his treacherous friend. “So, how have you been…?” 

They were talking a bit about some new online games and things when his friend suddenly started to lose focus. 

“Holy shit, there’s a seriously, seriously hot girl coming right this way… Don’t turn around right now guys” he warned them. “I’m not kidding… Even if you have a girlfriend, you have to see this… It’s a true ten in a bikini...” he said, gulping a bit. “Shit, mate… she’s coming straight at us… Thank you Aphrodite.. I don’t mind a closer look at those boo...” he went on, but Tom, who had shot a sideways glance bursted out laughing.

“You might want to stop talking right now or you will piss Alex off…” he snorted. 

Alex let slip an exasperated sigh. He had only been dating Ellen for like six weeks and he was already sick of this. Not that he got jealous, but it was just so damn tiresome…

“What do you…?” the gamer started, but froze as Ellen put her hands over Alex’s eyes from behind and shook her wet hair at him.

“Damn, you’re ice cold… did you swim across the Atlantic or something…?” he said, turning around and she pulled him into a tight embrace. “Jeez… you’ve got a towel, you know…”

“Yeah, but you deserve it for refusing to swim with me…” she smirked at him

“Hey, I’m buying you ice-cream here…” Alex protested, with an offended look but Ellen just laughed and looked at his friend like she waited to be introduced.

“Oh, sorry… This is Ellen… Ellen, this is an old friend of mine, Logan” 

“Nice to meet you” Ellen said with a big smile and stretched out her hand, but Logan just stared for a couple of seconds too long before he managed to snap out of it.

“Sorry… I was hallucinating… Eh, nice to meet you too…” he finally said, still looking dumbstruck.

Later, as they sat at the beach watching while Ellen played beach Volleyball again with some people from her class, who had persuaded her to join the game, Tom couldn’t help himself.

“I’m really happy for you and Ellen, you know. But I don’t know how you do it mate….?” he said, shaking his head at Alex. “I don’t know if I could go out with a girl who attracts every other male within a radius of ten miles…”

“Yeah, if I got a dollar for every time someone hit on Ellen right in front of my nose, I would probably be rich quite soon...” Alex joked. “But seriously, it can be annoying sometimes, I’ll admit that. But I don’t know… maybe it helps that I’ve known from the start that she’s really out of my league on one level. Or I’m just not the jealous type? And I trust her… I mean, we’ve been friends for a long time and I’ve watched guy’s drooling over her for ages, without her ever caring one bit about it, so why would she start now?”

“Ok, I get it... but still…”

“But still, I’ll admit I’m glad she at least put on shorts and a t-shirt for the game, yeah…” Alex shrugged and watched Ellen play for a while before he went back to reading. He looked up from his book when he heard voices starting to shout and point all over the beach. Suddenly, the normally calm and flat lake was stirring. It started like small ripples on the surface, but it quickly built up to big waves, crashing towards the shore. People started to rush around and save their belongings from getting soaked and Ellen came running back to them as the game was interrupted. She was throwing off her shorts and top as she went.

“What are you doing, don’t tell me you are jumping into that? Something's not right with this….” Alex said.

“Do you see that? Someone’s got to do something…” she yelled and pointed.

A small girl floating around on an inflatable flamingo was drawn out into the now wild lake by the ever increasing waves. Alex could see several adults trying to defy the waves and get to her, but they were just being thrown back to the shore again. 

“Are… are you sure about this? Please be careful…” Alex said with a frown. He knew better than to stop her, but he didn’t know what she could do better than anyone else.

“I will, but I think they are attacking the waves wrong. You have to swim under the water…” she shouted back, already running along the pier that went out into the water. She took off jumping down into the water at full speed and dove under the surface. 

Alex was just picking up his phone to call 911, but he could already hear the sirens so he put it down again, and desperately searched the water with his gaze for a sign of Ellen. It took way too long before he finally saw her head breaking the surface, almost out where the girl was now crying out loudly, desperately clinging on to the neck of the pink flamingo. 

*

Ellen was almost out of breath as she finally reached the girl. There was something seriously wrong with these waves. She had dived under to be able to use her super speed and force to get to the girl quickly. Her plan had been to hover under her, making sure she was safe, before she showed herself when enough time had passed. But she had to seriously struggle to get through the water and for one confused second, she almost thought she wouldn’t make it there. She kicked as hard as she could with her legs, propelling herself forward the last couple of feet, before she resurfaced, gasping for air. 

“Don’t worry sweetie, I’ve got you…” she panted, trying to sound comforting, once she reached the little girl. As she grabbed the floaty thing and started to push it and the girl towards the shore, she noticed the water was getting calmer and she didn’t have to use any powers at all, which was lucky, because more or less every person on the shore was staring at them... 

She delivered the little girl back to her worried parents, and was showered in praise. However, the best part was Alex pulling her into his arms and hugging her tightly saying he had been worried. He even kissed her, right there on the beach, in front of everybody. She smugly concluded that his PDA-phobia didn’t stretch to situations where her life had been in danger. Or at least, when he thought so…  _ Perhaps I should let him think I risk my life more often… _ she thought while she let herself get lost in the wonderful feeling of his lips against hers. 

It wasn’t as if they didn’t make out enough on a daily basis… Once they were alone he had just as hard a time keeping his hands to himself as she did, which was a bit comforting. But when they were around people he kept her at an arm's length, normally. Which annoyed Ellen a bit, although she didn’t exactly know why. Perhaps it was because she missed being close to him during the days. Even if they had spent most nights together during the last couple of weeks, it only left her wanting more and she found it truly hard to make it through the days if they didn’t get any alone time to at least snog a bit, as Vi would have put it. And it bothered her a little that he seemed so indifferent. Why didn’t he need her as badly as she needed him? She also wanted to show the world that she had a boyfriend, for some reason. It annoyed her that some people didn’t seem to realize they were a couple even after spending quite a lot of time in their presence. Sometimes, she wanted to show people, just to get back at them. Like that drooling friend of Alex’s they had met buying ice cream before. Ellen had heard him talking about her, and she hadn’t been able to stop herself from resolutely demonstrating to whom she belonged. She knew it was a petty thing to do, and it made Alex a bit uncomfortable for some reason. Which only proved once more how different he was from other guys… Most of them would probably have been bragging and acting possessive if their friends had found their girlfriends hot. She smiled a bit at the thought about how Viola sometimes liked to demonstrate that Cal was her boyfriend if some swooning girls got too close. If she didn’t say “back off bitch, he’s taken” straight out, she showed it in every possible way. But perhaps she should only be grateful Alex didn’t do that to her. He was much more shy than Viola, for starters, and it would have seemed a bit out of character for him to openly brag about anything at all. And this way, at least she knew Alex didn’t see her as his arm candy… 

“Hey, do you want to get out of here and make out…?” he suddenly whispered in her ear. 

“Well, why can’t we make out a bit right here and now… there’s always the water too you know…” she answered a bit playful and dragged him down on the ground.

“I don’t know Ellen… you know I’m a bit uncomfortable with PDA...!”

“Why is that, though? You’re not ashamed of me, right?” she teased him.

“Don’t be stupid… It’s the other way around. I don’t like showing off, you know…” he smirked at her and she hit him playfully in the head. “Sorry… I just don’t know… I guess I was never comfortable sharing emotions. I’ll have to work on it…” 

“Yeah, you do that… You see, I do like showing off, and I want everyone to know you’re mine…” she said and kissed him again, rather passionately, making him blush a bit, when he realized people were looking.

“Ok, that’s enough therapy for now…” Alex tried to push her away.

“Hey… don’t be such a buzzkill…” she said, and started kissing him on the neck instead.

“Ellen please, can we save this for later...? it’s going to get embarrassing soon….” Alex gave her a meaning look, pleading with her.

“Uhm…is that so…? well, then you’ll have to go swimming with me ‘cause there are no cold showers here” she gave him a smug smile and started trailing her hands down towards his swim trunks.

“Oh, no you don’t, you evil seductress...” Alex pushed her hand away and laughed, getting up to run away from her.

“You just wait until I catch you… then I’ll give you embarrassing…” she laughed too and started chasing him across the beach, into the water. 

They played around a bit, chasing each other and splashing water before Ellen swam out and made him follow her. They stood with water halfway up their chests when she attacked him again. The feeling of her wet body against his, and her hard nipples through the bikini made his willpower finally crumble, and they were suddenly kissing passionately, standing right there in the water. As the water held her weight up, she wrapped both her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck and just let herself be swept away with lust. She heard him groaning loudly, both in protest and from pleasure, when she grinded her body against his growing erection.

“Shit, Ellen… you’re going to drive me crazy here…” he murmured, feeling like his brain was suddenly a bit foggy.

“I guess the cold water didn’t help…?”

“Not with you in it…” he breathed into her ear, as he kissed her neck, making her moan too. “We should really stop this before it gets out of hand…” he suggested half heartedly, but he couldn’t stop himself from squeezing her bottom gently, making her wiggle against him again. He was ridiculously turned on, and had difficulties thinking straight with her half naked, wet body pressed against his. But he wasn’t really the type that was into public sex…

“Why, though…. Do you think people would notice…?” she raised her eyebrows meaningfully.

“Yeah, they would, probably… And I’m guessing it won’t be that comfortable anyway… why don’t we just go back to your place? It’s not so far away and it’s still empty, right?” he whispered in her ear.

“Yeah, the others won’t be back until tomorrow… Ok, but you’d better make it up to me, because I want you so badly right now…” she replied in her most seductive voice, making him grunt something inaudible in return. 

“Please, just give me a moment to… calm down…” he cleared his throat and tried to think about something that would turn him off.

“Down boy, down… “ Ellen said with a mischievous grin and palmed him through his swim trunks.

“Eh, you are really not helping…” he rolled his eyes at her, but found it actually did help a bit when she started laughing, and he pushed her away, splashing water at her again. 

*

“Hey, guys… have you checked your stuff?” Bea came running towards them with an alarming look on her face when they got out of the water. 

“No, why? What happened?” Ellen asked.

“I think someone stole my phone, and there are a lot of other people who are missing stuff too, it seems…” 

They went through all their things, but luckily, nothing was missing. Bea had been right though, it seemed like a lot of people had been robbed, of everything from credit cards to phones and car keys. Ellen cursed silently to herself; she had really meant what she had told Alex about packing their stuff up and go home right away… But now they had to stay for a while and help Bea and the others out. The police were already there and started asking around for witnesses, but nobody had seen anything. When they were gone again, Ellen couldn’t stop thinking that something wasn’t right. She sat on her towel talking about what had happened with Bea when her classmates came up to her.

“Hey Lane… sorry our game got interrupted… But if you’re interested we’re having a little party at my place tonight” one of the guys said, raking a hand through his hair. “Your friend can come too…” he added, nodding a bit nonchalantly at Bea.

“Thanks, but I’ve got plans tonight…” she said, dismissing him. He didn’t seem to take the hint, though.

“Are you sure about that? It could be fun… We have a hot tub, you know…” he said and sent her a very flirty smile that made her sigh a bit.

“Yeah? Well, but I have a boyfriend. And an empty apartment… so I’m good. And as a matter of fact, we have a hot tub too; thanks for the idea.” she said and winked at Bea, who snickered a little. Even if she knew Alex would have gotten embarrassed if he had heard his not-so-subtle girlfriend right now, Bea never got tired of hearing Ellen show hot, flirty, overconfident males their rightful place. It was her secret revenge for all the guys who had ever rejected her and her fellow geek friends. 

“The game got interrupted…” Ellen suddenly said, zoning out for a moment, when her classmates had given up and left. “Hey, Bea… when did you notice your phone was gone?” she asked.

Ellen went around talking to people and her theory was confirmed almost instantly. Nobody had noticed anything missing before the incident with the weird waves and the girl on the flamingo. But right after that, the first missing items were noticed, which was why the police had already gotten there by the time Ellen and Alex got out of the water. 

“Hey, guys… there’s something really odd going on…” Ellen said as she came back to the towels. “You know those freak waves before…? I think someone did it deliberately as a distraction, and using it to steal…” 

“What? Are you sure…?” Alex raised his eyebrows. 

“Think about it… nothing was missing before that, I checked with some people. And afterwards at least twenty people were missing stuff, but nobody has seen anything suspicious… And I’m telling you; I was in there - those were not normal waves. And nobody saw a boat or anything that could have made them...” Naturally, she couldn’t tell them that the waves had been incredibly forceful, requiring super strength to break through. 

“But who could have…” Tom started, but Bea interrupted him

“Someone who can control water? Like a meta human or meteor infected or something?” she suggested, and then she remembered something “Oh God… what if it’s related to the freak theft at the university?

“What theft?” Alex and Ellen asked simultaneously.

“Didn’t you hear about that? It was right before finals… There was some freak accident with the water fountain; it started splashing water all over and everybody ran out from our programming lecture, and when we got back in, several computers were gone…” Tom explained. 

“So, a diversion with water again..? Too much of a coincidence…” Ellen said. 

Alex fished out his tablet out of his bag and started to do a search. 

“There are at least three similar incidents in the last couple of months involving some weird water diversion…” he concluded.

“But someone must have done it…? Too bad there are no security cameras on the beach…”

“Yeah, but I bet a lot of people filmed or took pictures? Perhaps one caught the guilty one…?”

“Let’s ask around…” Ellen got excited. Solving mysteries was something of a hobby of hers, but she hadn’t done much of that since High School, when she had written for the Torch, following in her aunt’s footsteps. 

“Shouldn’t we call the police…?” Bea asked.

“We have to have some evidence first…” Ellen said, already getting to her feet.

Half an hour later, they had indeed found five people filming and yet another ten taking pictures where at least parts of the audience on the beach were visible. Luckily, or perhaps it was more Ellen’s persuasive nature than luck, they had all shared the evidence with them, by letting Alex download the files to his tablet.

“Let’s go back to my place and see if we can blow these up and find something suspicious.” Alex suggested. “We can pick up some doughnuts from the café on our way…” 

“So much for making use of the empty apartment…” Ellen muttered to herself, but she was also keen on solving an honest to god, real crime so she only whispered to Alex that he  _ would  _ make it up to her later before she started shaking the sand from her beach towel and gathering her stuff.

*

It didn’t take too long to actually find something suspicious. Or rather, someone. There was a person dressed in a plain, white t-shirt and khaki shorts, with big, dark sunglasses and a baseball cap who was lurking around the scene while the drama with the kid on the flamingo took place. At first, he stood a bit on the side and stared at the lake, standing completely still in an awkward position. On some photos taken a bit later, where Ellen was coming in to the beach with the child, he could be seen seemingly snooping around in different places. 

“It’s got to be him…” Ellen said. “Too bad there are no clear shots of his face. And those clothes aren’t much to go on…” she sighed.

“Yeah, and half his face is hidden behind that cape and those glasses… The police will never find him from this…” Bea muttered. 

They decided to take a break and regroup, and they sat down upstairs in the kitchen. Alex made coffee and opened the big box of doughnuts he had brought them. Meanwhile, the others discussed whether to take what they had to the police or not. 

“It’s not enough to go on… they probably won’t believe us…” Bea thought.

“Yeah, but still… we’re not coming further ourselves.” Tom argued.

“Maybe we should talk to mom. She’s a reporter, you know. And she will believe us. I bet she can dig up something.” Ellen suggested “She  _ will _ steal the story, though…” she added thoughtfully.

“What, were you planning on writing about it?” Tom asked, curiously.

“Why not? I mean, I am a journalism major… I bet a story like this could get me a position on the Met U Campus paper… or even an internship at the Planet or some of the other big ones.” she added.

“Couldn’t your parents get you an internship…?” Bea asked.

“Over my rotting corpse... I’m no freerider. If I’m going to get in, I’ll earn it myself.” she said stubbornly.

“I might have something that could help us figure this out…” Alex said, thoughtfully. He hadn’t said anything for a while, debating with himself whether or not to tell them about his latest project. It wasn’t something he had planned to tell anyone about. At least not anytime soon. “...but you can’t tell anyone…” he added.

Alex told them about a facial recognition program he had been working on lately. It was a very special program, using a completely new type of algorithm that hadn’t been used in that way before as far as he knew. Ellen didn’t understand much of the computer lingo anyway, but she understood from the others that they were impressed. Evidently, he had also build in some probability distribution thingy in it, that she also didn’t really get, but she understood the implication. The program could be used to predict what people behind disguises would look like for real. And knowing Alex, it would probably work. She suddenly felt a bit uncomfortable… It wasn’t only bad guys who could be de-masked. But it probably wouldn’t work on the alien technology that was used to mask the true face of her dad when he was suited up, right? She thought about if she should ask him about the reason for building the program, but Tom was quicker.

“This sounds like some wicked advanced software Alex… I’d bet you could use it to find out the secret identities of some of the masked heros out there…”

“Well, probably… which is why you can’t tell anyone that I have it, ok? I would really not want it to end up in the wrong hands…” Alex said, sounding serious.

“Do you think it would work on the Superman disguise?” Bea asked, making big eyes.

“What, you mean your theory that they are using some kind of alien tech or something to distort his features?” Tom asked her.

“Why do you think that… that just sounds...crazy…” Ellen said, trying to sound calm, while her brain silently screamed  _ How the hell did they know about that? _

“Think about it Ellen… The guy doesn’t even wear a mask, if he maintains any normal life at all, he must be disguised somehow. And I don’t think he’s hiding under a paper bag all day long at his day job… And also, if you look at photos of him carefully, he never looks exactly the same. He doesn’t even have the same eye colour… and nobody has ever managed to take a picture where his face is really in focus, it’s always a tiny bit blurry. We think they are using some advanced technology to meddle with the way his face is perceived. Like it distorts things a bit. That way, it would be difficult to find a match using any traditional facial recognition programs.”

“But yours could…?” Ellen asked, feeling her mouth go a bit dry.

“I don’t know yet… but it’s very possible whatever technology they use contains some kind of randomization algorithm. This way, you could reverse engineer the process using a probability distribution, and based on enough sample pictures… possibly, yes.” Alex said. 

“God, Alex… why would you even build such a thing? Are you aiming at exposing super heroes now?” she said, starting to get a bit annoyed.

“Relax, I’m not going to expose anyone… I’m not even sure I want to know myself. It’s just a fun programming challenge. And anyway, it could perhaps even be useful to them one day?”

“What, if they forget who they are?” she snapped.

“No, but think about it… if our theory is true about the alien tech, it’s only a matter of time before the other side finds out about it and steals it… and then we could have an army of criminals who couldn’t be found with normal facial recognition programs…” Alex defended himself.

“I guess that’s true…” Ellen said thoughtfully. “Assuming your theory is even right…. It sounds kind of out there. Perhaps Superman doesn’t have a secret identity…? Maybe he’s just moving too fast to get a sharp picture?” she said, trying to get them on another track.

“Oh, I’m positive he does…” Bea said. “I mean, if he hadn’t, someone would have found out where he lives by now. Or seen him shop for groceries or something…”

“Yeah, and there are periods when there aren’t a lot Superman sightings… I mean, sometimes he leaves Metropolis to help out in other places, obviously. But still, there are weeks when he’s only seen a couple of times in Metropolis, and is nowhere else to be found if there is no big disaster going on. What do you think he does? I don’t think he’s hiding out in some secret lair playing video games…” Tom argued and Ellen bursted out laughing.  _ Yeah that would be the day… _ she thought at the idea of her dad sitting in the Fortress playing Super Mario Bros. 

“I don’t know… perhaps he’s resting up on some deserted island somewhere… Living off coconuts or something…” she joked back. 

“No, I think he has some other day job, here in Metropolis… or he wouldn’t show up so quickly when something happens. He seems to hear things before the police radio or news picks it up if it’s in Metropolis. When he helps out in other places, it’s always after it’s been reported somewhere, or with something he could have been called in on… And as far as I know, the league doesn’t pay monthly salaries right? Where does he get money if he has no job? ” Bea said.

“I agree with you… Only, it’s a bit hard to picture his life… right? Like, can you see Superman flying home from the office to greet his wife, two kids and dog somewhere in a house in the suburbs? Before he hops into his pick up and goes shopping for vegetables…?” Alex said amused, and Ellen almost choked on her coffee before she realized he was just describing the archetype of a normal life, and not necessarily her family. 

“Ok, as much fun as this little guessing game is, what do you say we see if the program can help us expose a thief instead?” Ellen suggested, feeling that she had had enough of the speculations for one coffee break. 

*

As it turned out, Alex had to work a little magic to extract the face of their suspect from all the pictures and the movies, and then he would have to finish up some parts of the code in order to run it. It would also take a couple of hours to run the simulation, and a couple more to hack some databases and scan for a match. Tom and Bea decided they didn’t have to hang around and wait, which Ellen was only too happy about. She had to think about what to do about Alex and the dangerous program once they were done. And she also really wanted to be alone with him.

“So, is your dad coming home tonight, or do you think I could stay here?” she asked him, once the others had closed the door.

“I guess he’ll be home sometimes later… but you can stay anyway. He’d probably be really happy to finally meet you.” Alex said.

“Hm, I could say hi I guess… but won’t it be a bit awkward if I stay over…?”

“Oh, hello hypocrite… and you scorned me for thinking it was embarrassing to come out of your bedroom and face your mom, whom you hadn’t even told we were dating, mind you…” Alex huffed. “Besides, dad won’t come down if he’s not asked to. He rarely does, you know. I even have my own entrance if you would like to avoid him completely. Although he’d probably be disappointed…”

“So, he knows about me then…?”

“Yeah, I mean… even if we live separate lives, he has noticed that I haven’t slept at home much lately.”

“Ok, I guess I’ll have to meet him at some point…I’ve just never been introduced as a girlfriend to someone’s parent before.” she grinned. “But I have to confess I have been wanting to stay over at your place for ages. Your bed seems so cozy for some reason… Don’t laugh, but I used to picture us snuggling up under the covers and watching movies in bed, long before we were together…” 

“Oh, wow… that’s what you were dreaming about…? I’m just glad you can’t read my mind, because it might be a bit dirtier than yours…” he chuckled a little at her. “But I think I can definitely deliver on that dream.” 

“Who says that’s  _ all _ I dreamed about doing in your bed… But I think you will deliver on some of my other fantasies too…” she said softly and started kissing his neck from behind, where he sat in front of the computer. 

“So, why don’t you tell me what else you’ve been dreaming of…” he whispered in her ear and turned around to kiss her properly. He had wanted to finish up the code, and he normally wasn’t easily distracted when he was working, but Ellen was his weak spot, evidently. And after her teasing him in the water earlier that day, it didn’t take much to crumble his willpower this time either and conclude that an hour more or so before he could finish his code wouldn’t matter...


	26. The justice league

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Ellen finds herself in a bit of trouble and Alex is in for a big surprise...

Ellen was trapped. She probably should have been scared, but at the moment, she was to focused on being furious with herself. How the hell had she ended up in this situation? Her first attempt at solving a real crime was not going very well at the moment, and to her utter humiliation, she realized that it would probably end up with her dad having to rescue her. And that was a best case scenario, really. 

It had all started so well; Alex had really delivered with his program and his hacking skills (not just in his cozy bed) and they had a suspect less than twelve hours after getting back to his place from the beach. And the time spent waiting for his simulations to run hadn’t been wasted either. They had a really pleasant dinner with his dad, where Ellen realized it made her strangely excited to be introduced to her boyfriend’s dad for the first time, like it made their relationship real somehow. They had also had more than enough time to spend in his bed fulfilling more than one fantasy of hers. Including the more innocent one of eating breakfast while watching a movie in bed. She had been almost giddy with happiness when they finally had a name and a file and could leave his place to start the last part of the investigation - finding the bad guy.

And that’s where everything started going downhill…

At first, she had been happy Alex had to work since that meant she could use superspeed to check out all the possible locations in the suspect’s file; like his home, work, possible girlfriend’s home and job etc. But to her disappointment, he was nowhere to be found. Ellen had accidentally started with the girlfriend as her job was just around the corner, and that might have been a mistake. She had claimed they were broken up and she knew nothing about his current whereabouts, but that had probably been a lie. She must have warned him instead, since he seemed to have fallen off the face of the earth. Well, rookie mistake...

The last spot on the list had been the old lab under Crater Lake, just outside of Smallville, of all places. It wasn’t a place their possible bad guy had been connected to officially, and thus it hadn’t even been on the list at first. But somewhere along the road, somebody mentioned he had been seen in that area on several occasions. And as Crater Lake was one of the places with reported weird wave-related activities, Ellen had figured it was too much of a coincidence. 

In hindsight, she felt really proud that she had figured it out. It was actually kind of clever. The fact that she didn’t tell anyone else about it before she barged in - not so much. 

Somehow, Ellen guessed, the meteor freak used the technology at the lab to amplify his powers, which meant he had been able to trap Ellen inside. Her strength wasn’t enough to breach the wall of water he had built around the place. And the signal seemed to have jammed other forms of communications too, because; why not? And thus she couldn’t even call anyone. 

“Come out and talk to me in person you coward…” she yelled uselessly at nobody in particular from her water cage. She didn’t even know if he was close enough to hear her, but she suspected as much since meteor powers usually didn’t work well at a distance. But of course, there was no answer.

Well, fuck…

She figured the guy was wondering what to do with her, since he was obviously more of a thief than an evil mastermind. The problem was only that people could get pretty desperate when cornered, and he knew she knew who he was… 

*

“Hey, Alex… is Ellen around?” Cal said, as he entered the café in search of his sister. They were supposed to be meeting up for lunch, but evidently she had forgotten. At first, Viola had thought that she was just stuck in the bedroom with Alex and had been distracted, but then Nico had come by and informed them Alex was working today, and when Ellen still didn’t answer her phone, Cal got worried.

“No… I thought she was going to meet up with you?” Alex said, a deep frown on his forehead.

“Yeah, but she didn’t show. And she doesn’t answer her phone?” 

“Fuck. Ellen… I swear to God...”

“What?” Cal demanded.

“No, we were working on a bit of a mystery together, but she was supposed to wait until I finished work before going after any suspects.”

“Oh, and you fell for that? It’s Ellen, man. Come on…”

“Shit, what if she has gotten herself into trouble…?” Alex said, nervously.

“Don’t worry, Ellen can usually take care of herself.” Cal said, but he seemed a bit worried indeed. 

“Yeah, but the person we were going after is a meteor freak, I don’t think Karate works against that…” Alex argued, nervously wiping the counter in front of him. He was usually rather calm and controlled, but fuck. This was Ellen!

“Ok, that’s… not good. Look, Alex. Don’t worry ok? I’ll call mum and dad and make sure they send someone looking for her if she doesn’t show. But it would be great if you could tell us everything that you’ve got, ok?”

“Of course…” Alex said and started telling Cal the story. 

Luckily, he had brought all the information on his laptop since he had been under the impression they would go looking for the suspect together, right after he finished his shift.

  
  


*

Alex was waiting nervously sitting in front of the computer on the couch. He was both in a state of utter horror about Ellen, but he also couldn’t help being in awe. He was at the headquarters of the Justice League! At least the one in Metropolis. Rumors had it, there were several, even one in space somewhere. Being here would have been a dream come true, under any other circumstances. Now he was too worried about Ellen to really appreciate it. He tried to focus on the computer, but at the moment, there wasn’t really much he could do. He had done his part in tracking down Ellen’s phone to its last known location, shown the League all they had on the suspect and even explained about his program. Now, Superman had flown off to search for Ellen and all he could do was to wait.

A million thoughts were simultaneously trying to get his attention and his brain had never felt this disorganized, ever. What if they were too late? What if something happened to Ellen? No, those thoughts were too awful to think about, and he shut them away deep down in some less important part of his mind for the moment. Instead, he started to worry about the consequences of telling the League about his program. When they had found out Ellen’s phone was disconnected, Cal had immediately called his parents, who, somehow, had managed to contact Superman. Alex guessed he shouldn’t be surprised; there were rumours that Lois Lane knew him quite well, what with all the times she had been saved by him or written about him. He even knew Ellen by name already, as the incident with the robbery the previous year had shown. But still - to see all of the League more or less drop everything they had to start searching for Ellen was a bit of a shock. At first, Alex had tried to make it sound like they had happened upon the identity of the culprit by accident since someone had recognized him on the beach, but Lois Lane hadn’t bought the story and Cal had been suspicious too. In the end, Alex it was safe to come clean and tell them about his computer skills. 

The Green Arrow had met up with them at the Watchtower and contacted non other than their main hacker, who Alex knew was the infamous “Smoke” without needing any further explanation. He had been so nervous he was almost shaking when chatting with his long time idol. His focus had mainly been on finding Ellen though, and he had put all his insecurities aside and told them everything he knew. He had received a bit of scolding for building something so dangerous without letting the the League know about it (even if he tried to explain he would have gladly told them if he had known how to contact them), but also praise for his program and for quickly finding the last known location of Ellen’s phone as well as realizing there was some kind of force field blocking the area surrounding Crater Lake. 

Alex was brutally ripped from his thoughts when the Man of Steel suddenly flew in through the window, with the limp form of Ellen in his arms. His heart raced a hundred miles per minute and his whole body felt ice cold. His head was spinning. No, she couldn’t be… There were a few seconds when he tried to wrap his head around what had happened and what it would mean if Ellen would indeed never wake up again. How would he ever go on? The whole idea of not dating because attachment only led to pain in the end both seemed completely rational and really crazy at the same time. But even so, rational or not, he realized he would give up everything he owned and every opportunity he would ever get in the future for her. Nothing else mattered, only Ellen. She had become the center of his universe, and even if he didn’t like it one bit, there was no use denying it either. And right now, his universe was falling apart…

“Oh, Ellen… “ he managed to gasp, trying to get his legs to obey him in order to stand up.

“Don’t worry, she’ll be fine…” Superman assured him, and he felt his legs turn to jello as he sunk down on the couch again, the feeling of warmth slowly returning to his body, limb by limb. He sat with his head between his legs for a couple of seconds, before turning to look at Superman again.

“What happened? Shouldn’t we get her to the hospital?” 

“She only needs rest, I’ll let Dr. Emil have a look at her. Just wait here, and I’ll tell you everything…”

*

“You have been very useful to us, solving this case, mr Leigh...” Superman said, in his most Supermanlike voice. Ellen was still unconscious, resting on one of the couches after being checked over by Dr. Emil, who Alex assumed was the doctor of the League. He hadn’t really thought about that they would need a doctor on the team, but now it seemed kind of obvious. They did have members without superpowers, after all, or those who could still get hurt. And they might not want to go to a normal hospital and explain how they got their wounds. Alex was briefly considering whether all people they saved also got personal treatment, or if this was a special case since Alex had gotten involved too, or since Superman knew Lois Lane so well. But he didn’t want to ask about that. He was both a bit intimidated and exited standing in front of two members of the League; both Superman and the Green Arrow at the same time. The two heroes had been conversing in hushed voices in a corner, and also spoken to somebody on the phone, while he stood leaning against the back of one of the big, red plush couches in the room.

“Please, call me Alex…” he insisted as an answer to Superman’s question. Or more since he didn’t know what else to say.

“All right, Alex… I have also discussed your program and your skills with our head of IT and cyber security, or our house hacker as we like to call her... “ Arrow continued, and smirked a little. Alex could see that he was talking of someone he was very fond of.  _ Oh, the Smoke... it’s a she…? Are they…? _ He considered, before Superman continued where Arrow left off to enjoy his own joke.

“...and she thinks you could be useful to us.” Superman crossed his arms over his chest and gave Alex a penetrating stare, as if he was trying to read his mind and see what he would think about this statement.

Alex’s heart started to pound, and he tried to relax and seem cool. But really, all he wanted to do was to throw himself at the heroes' feet and beg for them to let him join. 

“I would be honored to help with anything you think I can…” Alex managed to squeeze out after composing himself enough to speak.

“I would hope so…” Superman said. “However, we do not let just anyone be a part of our operation, no matter at what level. It’s a big responsibility to know anything at all about us and our activities. We have to be absolutely sure where your allegiance lie…” he continued, with a grave face. 

“Yeah…. I understand that…” Alex responded. He wanted to say “you can trust me” but it seemed like such a stupid remark. Like, who would not say that in this situation, villain or good guy? He eyed the heroes and Superman had the same stern look, but Alex noticed that the Arrow almost seemed like if he wanted to make a joke, or was biting back a laugh, which was confusing. Even if he had already gotten the impression that the Arrow was more laid back and humorous, this wasn’t exactly a laughing matter.

“I mean, this time, you helped saving a girl I understand you are dating and have some feelings for…?” Superman continued and now Alex was sure. Arrow had an expression like if he didn’t know if he should laugh or hit his fellow hero in the head with his bow.

“Eh… Yeah… that’s true. But I would have helped anyway if you had asked me…” Alex said.

“But you are serious about your relationship with miss Lane-Kent, is that correct…?” Superman gave him a piercing look. 

“Are you sure you want to go there Boy Scout…?” the Arrow murmured at his colleague, quite audible, with apparent amusement in his voice this time. 

For one, horrible moment, it was as if Alex’s biggest dream and worst nightmare had come true all at once. This was not happening! He had been reluctant to go out with Ellen because he didn’t want to ever have to face choosing between her and the life he wanted to lead. But then it had seemed so impossible that he would ever be able to work with the Justice League, or even get their attention. Now, here he was, with an offer to do some good for this world. But what would he do if it meant he had to sacrifice his calling? Still, he had just realized, during that brief moment that he thought she was gone, that he would do anything for her. What did Superman even mean with this question? Did he really want Alex to choose between a relationship and to work for the League? He tried desperately to think about an answer that might make them believe he could have both, but he felt like he was falling a million miles towards the ground, desperately grasping for something to hold on to that wasn’t there…

“Yeah, I mean… I really love her… but I don’t think that would stop me from working for you if you can use my services…” he tried tentatively.

Superman only nodded thoughtfully, like he was considering this. But he didn’t seem too sure, and Arrow had a very funny expression, like he couldn’t believe they were having this conversation. Was it such a taboo to have a girlfriend for the members? Alex wondered if they all were single and had dedicated their lives to fighting crime only. Or if they were seeing some of the other members perhaps. He thought about what to say, but decided he had to be completely honest, so before any of the heroes could say something else he added.

“I mean, I hope you won’t make me choose between being with Ellen and working for you… because I honestly don’t know what I would do. This is a dream come true, and a couple of months ago I would have given anything to do it…”

“But now you won’t…?” Superman interrupted him, but Alex was sure he had seen Arrow roll his eyes under the mask.

“No, I will… or I mean, I want to… I’ll do anything, but please, don’t make me break up with Ellen...” he pleaded and felt a bit hopeful when he saw Superman nod thoughtfully again.

“What the hell!?” Alex suddenly heard a voice nearly screaming behind him. Ellen had woken up from her unconscious state and jumped to her feet, looking furious. But Alex hardly noticed at first, he was just so relieved to see her look fine…

“Ellen!!” he exclaimed and pulled her into his arms to hug her, but she pushed him away. Evidently, she had other things on her mind. And they were probably not chocolate and baby unicorns since she looked like she was going to kill someone. For a scary moment, Alex though she was furious with him for even considering choosing the League over her, but when she exploded, it was Superman she turned to, and Alex watched, both horrified and amused as she scolded him. And how he seemed to shrink under her furious gaze.

“You have to be fucking kidding me…” she raged at Superman, who took a step back and tried to admonish her.

“Now, I don’t appreciate that language…” he started but she shot him a warning glare and he went quiet.

“Don’t you dare, you lowliest of all hypocritical lifeforms… were you seriously just asking him to choose between the League and me..?” she roared, her hands waving in fury.

“Told you it was a bad idea…” Alex could hear the Arrow mumble smugly.

“No, I wasn’t actually asking that… it was sort of his own… interpretation…” Superman gave her a rather sheepish grin, which didn’t all seem like a Supermanish expression and looked rather silly actually.

“His interpretation…? And what on earth would give him that idea….?” Ellen still yelled, the color of her face shifting somewhere between a ripe peach and an aubergine.

“I… I just asked if he was serious about you… that’s all. I mean, I was doing you a favor, really…” Superman tried, but nobody in the room, including himself, thought even for a fraction of a nanosecond that that argument would get him anywhere.

“A favor!? Oh, is that right..? I can’t believe you… Perhaps you should take a good look in the mirror and think about what you always say about never misusing your powers for personal benefits.”

“Now, I would never…”

“Really? Because do you know what this looks like to me? The high and mighty Superman using his position as the leader of the League to pry into my love life…” Ellen folded her arms across her chest, and Alex suddenly realized she stood in the exact same position as he had been just a minute ago. It was almost comical… If Alex hadn’t been too confused, and a tiny bit scared, he might have enjoyed the scene. Not only did she make no sense, but Alex also feared that she would ruin his chances with the League if she kept insulting their leader. 

“Now, come on Ellen…” he tried to calm her down, even if he was terrified of getting in the way of her rage. He had known she was tempramental, but this was beyond anything he had ever seen. “...there must be some kind of misunderstanding here. What interest would Superman possibly have in your lovelife…?” he argued, rationally.

“Oh, for the love of all intelligent life forms in the universe…” Ellen exclaimed, throwing her hands up in the air and staring incredulously from Alex to the now rather shameful looking heroes “...you didn’t even  _ tell him _ ?” 

“Eh, well… we didn’t exactly get to that part yet… We still need him to agree on getting scanned and registered, and you know, the usual procedure…” Superman said.

“Well, maybe you could have considered doing that before you were trying to trick him into confessing… whatever you were hoping…” she said, and suddenly she got thoughtful. “SO, what exactly were you hoping he would say? That he would break up with me to join you? Huh? Would you have enjoyed ruining my life perhaps?” Ellen scoffed.

“Please, Ellen…. You are making a bigger deal out of this than it is... I didn’t mean to put pressure on him, I swear! The conversation just sort of got out of hand. And I most certainly don’t want to see you unhappy…I’m truly sorry.” he pleaded.

“Yeah, you’d better be. Or I’m telling mom, and you’ll be sleeping in the barn for the rest of the year at least…” Ellen snapped, but she had started to calm down. Alex was trying to follow the conversation, but it was all just too surreal. He knew her parents lived on an old farm, but why would Superman be sleeping in their barn? 

“Ok, there’s no need to get nasty…” Superman snapped back at her.

“...and you’d better get on with it then. You were about to tell Alex something, am I right? Or maybe you’re ashamed now, huh?” Ellen said, challenging him.

“I’m sorry, I’m not following here…” Alex sighed. He didn’t like to feel stupid at the best of times, and right now it was getting beyond annoying that they kept talking in riddles.

“I’m sorry Alex. I really do owe you an apology… Ellen is right, I was out of line… completely. If you ever have kids of our own one day, you might forgive me…” Superman sighed.

“What… you have kids?” Alex said, surprised. He still didn’t get it.

“Holy mother of dragons, I thought you said he was supposed to be smart…” the Arrow snorted with laughter from his corner. 

“Shut up, I’m getting to you…” Ellen snapped at him too and he cowered into the shadows.

“Alex, please. I’m so sorry for not telling you about this sooner, but there’s something you don’t know about me…” Ellen said, grinning a bit sheepishly now too. “What? You can just have him mind wiped later if he doesn’t agree to your stupid terms… ” she snapped at her father who had just started to object. “He knows too much anyway, and he  ** _will _ ** connect the dots any minute, because he  ** _is_ ** smart. I think his brain is just stuck in the usual state of denial… nothing we haven’t seen before, right?” she added.

Alex might be smart, but he had never felt more stupid. It was a bit like if his brain had gone into shock. He tried to think, but it was a much slower process than he was used to, like wading around in syrup when you were used to walking on water. So, Ellen was involved with the League somehow. It was apparent she knew both Superman and Arrow quite well. But how? He was missing something that the others thought should have been obvious by now. 

“No? Nothing?” Ellen watched him, almost looking a bit amused. “Ok, I guess I should have seen this coming… It’s not everyday you find out that your girlfriend is part alien, after all…” she sighed. And realization finally dawned upon him.

“I think I have to sit down…” Alex took off his glasses and rubbed his nose. Yep, the picture was starting to fit into the frame now. He saw the answer to the riddle flashing like a big, pink neon sign in front of him but it still seemed unbelievable. He shook his head, slightly, thinking about what to say. He wanted to confirm it, but it still felt too weird to say it out loud. And in that moment the doors flew open and Cal and Lois came barging in.

“Ellen! Are you ok…?” Lois ran up to her and pulled her into a firm hug.

“Hey, glad to see you’re back… Never doubted Alex would find you though…” Cal said smugly and slapped Alex on the shoulder. “So, what’s up with you? You ok there mate…?” Cal asked with a worried expression on seeing Alex’s pale face.

“Yeah, we sort of just dropped the bomb on him… I think he’s still recovering...” Ellen said with another sigh. She hadn’t even started to worry about what Alex would actually think yet. She was still too frustrated about the whole situation.

“And it only came out after he…” she said, pointing an accusing finger at her father “... tried to use Superman to pry into our love life…”

“You did not…!” Lois gasped, with an incredulous look on her face.

“It wasn’t exactly like that…” Clark tried to defend himself.

“Was too… he more or less tried to get Alex to choose between me and working for the League… and he did ask him if he was serious about me, without telling him who he really is...” Ellen huffed.

“Oh, man… you are so screwed…” Cal roared with laughter. 

“Yeah, maybe you can help me hide the kryptonite…” Clark muttered.

“Sorry, but I’ll have to side with Ellen and mom here, that was not cool... If you’d done that to Vi I would have come after you with it myself...” he shook his head in disbelief.

“Ok, so I did apologize… repeatedly, mind you. Now we have to talk to Alex about the responsibility of keeping the secrets of the Justice League…. You can all get back to yelling at me later…” Clark sighed.

“Do you mind if I perhaps take some time to talk to my boyfriend first? We can get back to your stuff later… I think we deserve some time alone after you almost scared him to death.” Ellen said.

“I’m hungry… I think you could at least get us something good to eat while we discuss this further…?” Cal said, turning to Clark.

“That’s an excellent idea. Perhaps we’ll let Alex pick? Takeout from anywhere on the planet? What do you say?” Oliver turned to Alex, taking off his hood “And, Clark, you can pick up Chloe from Star City while you’re at it. I think she and Alex will have some things to talk about face to face for a change…” he added.

Alex was once more in shock. Oliver Queen… And what did he min about “face to face”  _ Holy hacking… _ Chloe Sullivan-Queen, head of cyber security at Queen industries… and the Justice League apparently. He wasn’t only going to meet the infamous Smoke, he already had. It was Leo’s mom… well, that explained a thing or two.

“Ok, enough secrets for now or he’ll never snap out of it….” Ellen demanded. “Come on Alex, are you ok? I think we should talk...” she sat down by his side and stroked him gently over the hair, and when he nodded silently, she took his hand and dragged him up.

“We’ll go for a walk while you guys organize dinner… Do we meet you back here or at the apartment?“ she asked.

“Is Holly there?” Oliver asked Cal.

“I don’t know actually… but I think she was going somewhere, I can check with Leo, and we’ll text Ellen the where, ok?”

“So, what about it; thai, chinese, italian…?” Ellen asked Alex.

“Anything is fine with me, as long as I can get something vegan…” he mumbled, looking at his shoes, not really feeling comfortable meeting the penetrating gaze of Superman. 

“Ok, you heard the man, surprise us…” she told her father. “But I want dessert. And you owe me something really good.” she glared at him with narrow eyes. “I still haven’t forgiven you, you know…” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, sorry this took so long for me to post. It was actually the only chapter in the whole series I hadn't all but finished before starting to post, and somehow I got completely stuck on it. It didn't help that it was years since I actually wrote this thing and I didn't remember exactly what it was supposed to be like. I know it was supposed to have a scene where Ellen and Alex talk about the superpowers and everything else, but it just felt like repetition and didn't turn out well so I cut it out.... sorry.


	27. Green eyed monsters, surprise revelations and happily ever afters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which... a lot happens, really. Trigger warnings for attempted sexual assault (brief mention), and a sickeningly sweet happy ending...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if this is a bit long, it was supposed to be two chapters, but one of them was a bit pointless, so I shortened it down and made it into one "story" instead...

Ellen stretched out on Alex’s bed with a satisfied smile on her face and briefly considered if she should assault him in the shower after all… but she had promised to get food, and she suspected she wouldn’t be invited over when he was gaming again if she disturbed him too much. She had convinced Alex that it would be a good idea if she stayed the night when he was practicing for some gaming event with his team. At first, he had been reluctant claiming that he wouldn’t be that much fun as he would be playing most of the night, but she had said she had to study anyway and promised to behave and provide him with food and drinks. And she had behaved, for quite a long time anyway, but as they were getting close to a short technical dinner break she had decided they could have some fun in the pause. And since it wasn’t too long, she thought she should tease him a bit to get him ready and she had crept down under his table, staying clear of the webcam, and unzipped his pants, starting to work on getting him in the mood… He had hissed at her to stop it at first, and she knew he had lost focus for a couple of seconds because his team mates swore at him and he had sent her a funny look, somewhere between turned on, amused and annoyed. It had done the trick however, and as soon as the camera and mic were shut down, he had grabbed her and pushed her down on the bed. 

Now she lay resting on his bed, two orgasms and absolutely no food later. She had wanted to join him in the shower for a third round, but he had told her there was no time. Suddenly, she heard his computer beeping and when she cast a glance at it she saw that Liz had opened a private chat window and before she could look away she saw what she had written and gaped.

_ What’s up with you tonight Alex? You are totally unfocused… If you are stressed out, I can come by later? You’ll feel much more relaxed after a good, hard fuck, you know? _

Ellen couldn’t believe it.  _ That little bitch! _ She knew about her and Alex, right? Ellen was almost sure...she didn’t know if Alex had actually told her they were going out, but they had held hands in a bar when they had met Liz the week before, and she had seen them leave together. But now she was still coming on to him. Or coming on was a bit of an understatement actually. Throwing herself at him was more accurate. Ellen fumed with anger. She couldn’t help herself. She picked up the computer, although she knew Alex would probably be mad at her.

_ Sorry, Alex is AFK at the moment, he had to take a shower… he’s already quite relaxed, thank you. _

There was no answer for a long while, and Ellen added.

_ And I’m sorry about before, it wasn’t his fault… he was just a bit unfocused because I had his dick in my mouth. _

_ Crap. Did I actually write that? _ She thought. Alex was going to kill her if he saw it… But she couldn’t help laughing when she thought about what Liz’s face would look like right now. 

_ I’m sorry, who the hell are you?  _ Liz wrote back. 

What? Was she playing stupid?

_ I’m his girlfriend… You know... Ellen? About a head taller than you, blue eyes, dark hair with bangs… Left the bar hand in hand with Alex last week? You kinda keep insinuating I’m stupid, but I’m starting to wonder who’s not got all the bytes in the drive if you seriously can’t remember me…  _

The chat was quiet for a while before Liz answered.

_ Oh, apologies if I offended you somehow, I didn’t know you were going steady… it’s not unusual for Alex to leave a party with a girl and never see her again, you know… _

_ It’s ok. I guess you didn’t know. But I’m not angry with you, actually I would like to thank you. You’re the one who told me to hook up with a smart guy if I wanted amazing sex, and you were right you know… So, thanks for the tip. _

The chat went quiet again and at that moment, Alex stepped into the room with a towel wrapped around his hips and looked at her with raised eyebrows as she shut his laptop with a guilty expression on her face.

“What are you doing…?” he asked.

“Oh...just chatting a bit with Liz…” she said with an innocent grin.

“Ellen..?”

“I’m sorry… It was stupid… I guess she brings out the worst in me, but she totally started it by offering you sex although she clearly knows we’re going out…” 

He didn’t say anything, just gave her a patronizing look and held out his hand for his laptop, but she hid it behind her back.

“And before you judge me, you should know that she has been a total bitch to me every time we’ve met. As soon as she thinks you don’t hear, she throws me an insult and when she does think you hear she asks me something she knows I can’t answer just to make me look stupid…Have you noticed?” she defended herself.

“So you thought you would bite on that and stoop to her level…?” he raised his eyebrows “Let me see that…” he beckoned with his hand.

“You’re going to hate me… It was really immature of me, I know. I am ashamed…” she gave him her best puppy dog eyes and pouted. 

Alex opened the laptop and quickly read through the chat, mouth gaping. “I can’t believe you wrote that…” he said incredulously. Sure, Liz had evidently been quite rude as well, and told Ellen some lie about him regularly hooking up with random girls, so in one way she sort of deserved it. But still, he thought it was a bit beneath Ellen to actually write she had given him a blow job while they were still playing. His teammates were going to give him hell for this - he didn’t think for one moment that Liz wouldn’t tell them first chance she got.

“I’m so sorry… I swear it will never happen again. You can punish me anyway you like…” she said, pouting again, obviously trying to look cute. Alex couldn’t help laughing at her, she was kind of adorable, and it wasn’t like she usually would do anything like that. He tried to imagine what he would feel like if some guy bluntly asked Ellen to sleep with him right in front of his very nose. He would probably lose his temper too…

“I’ll think of something later…” he said and gave her a mischievous smile. “But right now, you could do a pizza run for us. I’m actually really hungry…”

Ellen couldn’t help letting out a relieved sigh when Alex started talking about food - she knew she was (mostly) forgiven. She also didn’t mind getting things for Alex at all. It was almost funny the way she had always used to fear rejection because of her powers. That old feeling that guys would feel inferior and threatened by her simply didn’t apply to Alex. He just said “oh, cool” whenever she showed him something new she could do, and he didn’t hesitate using her shamelessly when it suited him. Or, using her powers, was more like it. Ellen never felt like Alex was using  _ her.  _ In fact, she couldn’t appreciate more that he never tried to go all macho on her and decide he had to take the heavy bags because he was male. 

*

Ellen gave Alex a sweet kiss and went out to get food as he logged back on to the computer. It was still a couple of minutes until they were scheduled to start again, and he was discussing tactics for the upcoming game with Tom as the others logged back on too, one after the other.

“I think we had a good first trial run tonight… we are becoming really coordinated as a team. Except where Alex totally blew the last battle round… what the hell happened there?” Tom asked.

“Yeah, sorry about that… I just got a bit distracted…” Alex cleared his throat.

“Perhaps if he would keep his dick in his pants during game night he wouldn’t screw up so royally…” Liz muttered.

“I said sorry… It won’t happen again…” Alex snapped.

“What, you’ve got a girl over Alex? Seriously, what were you thinking…” Cam said, but sounded more amused than mad. 

“It’s just Ellen, she came over to study and to get me take out and coffee and stuff…” Alex defended himself.

“Who’s Ellen…?” Cam asked. As he didn’t live in Metropolis, he had never met her or heard about her before.

“It’s his  _ girl _ friend…” Tom said with an unnecessarily long intonation on girl as if he was a five year old teasing his kindergarten friend about talking to a member of the female species.

“Oh, you’ve got a girlfriend now…? That’s great Alex… but you know the rules of gaming, right? No distractions…”

“Yeah, but it’s just a practice run right? And what I do during the breaks isn’t really any of your business…” he muttered.

“When you engaging in foreplay while playing and loses our team a thousand points it kind of becomes our business…” Liz snapped.

“Will you drop it already? I said I won’t let it happen again...” 

“I just still can’t believe you invited your girlfriend over for gaming night, I would have thought you had your priorities sorted out...” Cam sighed.

“Yeah, that’s because you haven’t met Ellen…” Tom said and Bea snickered.

“What, is she hot?” Cam asked.

“She’s beyond hot… I can’t even understand how Alex can form coherent sentences in her presence…” Tom sighed.

“Maybe they don’t really talk that much…” Liz snared.

“Ok, that’s enough…” Alex snapped. “She’s not a piece of ass your know. We actually do talk, and I happen to think she is brilliant. It’s not her fault she’s hot... and I would appreciate it if you guys stopped being so prejudiced and treat her like an idiot because of the way she looks.” 

“Oh, touchy…” Cam laughed.

“We don’t treat her like an idiot...” Bea protested. “I like Ellen, I think she’s cool…” she said.

“Thank you… I wasn’t talking about you anyway… But can we just play now, please…?” Alex said. 

Half an hour later, Ellen came back with the food. She still felt a bit pissed at Liz and decided to just put the last nail in the coffin and demonstrating that Alex was hers now, by doing something she almost never ever did. Namely deliberately showing off her body to get a reaction out of someone. She had dressed in tight, denim shorts that barely covered her panties and showed off her long legs and she had tied her sleeveless shirt in a knot just above her belly button. To top it off, she undid a couple of buttons so that she showed a generous amount of cleavage, and she pulled her boobs up just a bit extra in her push up bra.  _ I can’t believe I’m sinking this low…  _ she thought to herself, but all was fair in love and war, right? She put some lip gloss on and deliberately stepped in front of the webcam, kissing Alex gently on the neck and putting his pizza down on the table in front of him.

“Here you go babe…” she said in a seductive voice and made sure the camera had a good view of her cleavage before she turned around and walked away, just wiggling her hips a tiny bit extra. She heard one of his friends cough and spit out his drink into his headset and she smiled triumphantly. Alex, who had been focused on the screen, turned around briefly when he heard Cam’s reaction and he rolled his eyes at Ellen when he saw what she was wearing and mouthed  _ Aren’t you done yet?  _ With a small shake of his head but she just grinned smugly back at him. She was really a handful sometimes. 

Two chat windows opened at once.

*

_ Are you f*cking kidding me? That’s your girlfriend..? Not in a million years am I buying that…  _ Cam wrote.

_ No, she’s just the pizza delivery person, Ellen is much hotter…  _ He answered sarcastically.

_ How the hell did you pull that off? Are you sure she’s completely sane?  _

_ I have my ways…  _ he wrote.

_ Do you mind if I think about her when I get myself off later…? _

_ Go to hell…  _ Alex wrote and closed the chat. Cam could really be a bit of a dick sometimes. But then again, Ellen had really done her best to play the stupid bimbo part. He hated that she did that. And not just because he was possessive, he thought his friends had enough prejudices about pretty people using their sexuality rather than their brains, and he didn’t need for his own girlfriend to prove them right…

*

_ Ok, so what the hell is up with Ellen? That’s not really her style? Has she been drugged again?  _ Emma wrote in another chat window.

_ Yeah, sorry about that. Liz pissed her off by coming on to me and she somehow thinks making her jealous would be a good way to get back at her. Don’t ask me why, I’ll yell at her later…  _ he answered with a rolling eyes smiley.

_ Oh, would that be before or after you rip that ridiculous excuse of an outfit from her body…?  _ Emma asked.

_ Ha ha…funny. But after, probably…  _

_ Men… you are all the same. No matter the IQ.  _ Emma sent him a rolling eyes smiley back. 

_ But I never really liked Liz that much, she can be a total bitch. If it upset her I’m all for it…  _ she finally concluded.

Alex smiled a bit to himself before closing the window and getting back to the game. He missed Emma sometimes. She was the best friend he had ever had and it had been great having a close girlfriend to talk to. Like, she could perhaps have helped him understand why making a fool out of yourself and proving them right was a good way to get back at someone who had insulted you…

*

Since the incident with Liz, Ellen had been really careful not to show Alex any signs of that she was jealous, ever. She knew he had been disappointed in her, both for playing her hot-girl card and for being jealous in the first place. And logically, she knew he was right. She had no reason to doubt him, even if there were other girls who appreciated his charm as well. Because, as it turned out, there were. Perhaps Alex wasn’t the kind of hot guy who would make girls turn around on the street, but Ellen also wasn’t the only one who thought he was cute, or who was attracted to his intelligence either. But he never did anything to encourage them. It wasn’t as if he could help it. And anyway, Ellen knew he had more reason to be jealous, if anyone should. She had guys hitting on her all the time, after all. But feelings aren’t always rational, and there was one thing that really bothered her. The fact that he so rarely showed her any affection whatsoever in public. She knew he was shy, and that he didn’t think he needed to prove anything to anyone, but sometimes she still felt a bit like he didn’t want people to know they were dating and that did hurt. And it was annoying, because if people would have known, it might have saved her some trouble too. Instead, she kept having to explain to guys who were coming on to her, or girls trying to hook her up with someone, that she did indeed already have a boyfriend.

“So, who is he?” one of her classmates said at lunch one day, after Ellen had rejected her proposal of going to a party to hook up with someone. “You keep saying you have a boyfriend, but we’ve never seen him… He’s not a student here?” 

“Well, he’s at Met U, but he’s a computer science major, and he’s taking physics too, which means he usually hangs around the other end of Campus, sadly…”

“You have to get him to come over to our end for lunch someday, or we won’t believe he exists…” 

“I can try, but he’s usually got a rather crammed schedule…” Ellen sighed. It was true, Alex had more classes than any of her other friends, and he was usually involved with some study group during breaks. And this was what annoyed Ellen a bit. She knew there were girls in those groups, and she also knew Alex didn’t really need them. He was the one helping everyone else, and no matter how hard she tried not to be jealous, she still felt like he was wasting his limited spare time on other girls, instead of hanging out with her. 

They had been back at Campus for a bit more than a month, when Ellen had a really ugly fight with the green eyed monster within. And a rather nasty fight with Alex too, for that matter. It all started one day when she overheard a conversation. She hadn’t meant to, but she was sitting outside the cafeteria in the science part of the Campus, waiting for Alex. She had convinced him to meet up with her for lunch, since it was one of those weeks when they hardly would see each other between his work, both of their assignments and some stupid game he wanted to play. He had even tried to negotiate his way out of their one, scheduled, mandatory date night that week and Ellen was already a bit pissed off about that when she heard them. 

The two girls sat down with their lunch trays at a table right behind her and started talking about this really smart, cute and funny guy in their class. It didn’t take Ellen long to get suspicious, and when a friend of theirs came along, it was confirmed. She couldn’t exactly see who said what, since she didn’t dare turning around. But from the conversation, it was obvious all three of them thought he was cute, and at least one of them also thought she had a chance. 

“Oh, are you talking about Alex…? So, any luck with your little project yet…?” the new girl asked when she came up to the table and heard the conversation.

“Well, when he was helping me with the assignment yesterday, I could have sworn he was flirting back a bit…” 

“Seriously? You’ve been giving him hints for like a month, but he hasn’t asked you out yet…”

“Yeah, but I think he’s just shy. He probably doesn’t have much experience with dating…” 

“What if he’s already seeing someone? Did you ask?”

“No, not directly… but I mean, we have been studying together since like the start of term, and he never mentioned a girlfriend or boyfriend. When I ask about what he’s doing later, it’s always work, playing online games, studying or hanging out with friends. And I’ve never seen him with anyone on Campus either, so if he’s seeing someone, he can’t be too keen on hanging out with them…” 

Ellen was boiling with rage and, yes, jealousy. The fact that she just got a text from Alex saying that he was stuck with some experiment that took longer than he expected in the lab and couldn’t make it to lunch did not help. And then the computer girl told her friends she had just chatted with Alex and asked if he would help them out with some assignment later if they came by the café - which he had agreed to. Even though he had told Ellen he couldn’t see her today since he was swamped with work, both from school and a project he was doing for the League. He had offered her to come by later that evening and stay over, which she hadn’t minded at all when he had made the offer. Now, however, it made her furious. Ok, so he could make time in his schedule for this classmate of his, who was obviously flirting with him, but not for Ellen. And then he expected her to just show up later for sex? Was that all she was good for, really? 

When she met up with Cal and Viola after lunch, she was still so raging mad she was almost crying. Cal argued that there probably was a perfectly good explanation, since he knew how much Alex adored her.  _ Typical. Guys have to side with each other, always…  _ Ellen scoffed internally. Viola agreed with Ellen that she had a right to be mad, and suggested she should confront him about it. 

*

“Here you go ladies….” Alex said with a smile and put the cappuccinos down on the table in front of his two classmates. He was really excited about the problem they were working on; the assignment they had chosen was very much connected to a problem he was trying to solve for Chloe at the moment, and he had already made some major progress in his own work by helping them out. And this was good news, since he had been really stressed out about it lately. He was thrilled to be working with the League, and he really didn’t want to let them down with the first real assignment they had given him, but he had to confess he had been kind of stuck. But when the girls from his class had come to him for help with a problem he had realized he had attacked his own assignment the wrong way. He smiled to himself.  _ If they only knew they were actually helping the Justice League right now… _

“So, Alex… what are you doing Saturday…? I’ve got tickets to the premiere of the new Lord of the Titans movie if you want to go… I mean, I really owe you for all your help” Caitlin suddenly asked him, which made him a bit uneasy. 

“Thanks, that’s really nice... but I have plans…” he said vaguely.  _ Crap, is she asking me out? Damn. _ He swore internally. He had suspected from time to time that Caitlin was actually trying to flirt with him, but he had tried to ignore it. He wasn’t even sure; picking up on other people’s emotions wasn’t really his super power. He probably should have mentioned that he had a girlfriend long ago though, but he didn’t like to share his private life with strangers. They were only studying, it wasn’t any of their business, right?  _ Or you don’t want them to know… _ A small voice inside him whispered, making his insides twist uncomfortably. Because if he was honest with himself, he had been kind of deliberately not mentioning Ellen in front of them. Although it was almost done unconsciously, he had feared that if Caitlin  _ was _ really flirting with him, she might give up and seek another tutor for her assignment if he turned her down, and he couldn’t afford that. He really made some great progress working with the girls. But now he felt ashamed… had he been using her by leading her on? 

“Plans, huh?” she asked, like if she wanted him to expand on it.

“Yeah, I promised to go to the new Ace ‘O Clubs with some friends…” he said, feeling a bit guilty about still not telling her about Ellen. He probably really should have. The hiding his relationship thing was going to come back and bite him in the ass sooner or later. Or, perhaps…. right away? 

“Are you for real?” Alex froze when he heard the angry voice behind him.

“Ellen! Hi… didn’t know you were coming by…” he tried innocently.

“Obviously…” she snarled. Oh, this was not good, Alex thought. She had probably heard the whole exchange. 

“Well, are you going to introduce me to your lady friends here, or what?” Ellen snapped before he could retort.

“Eh, sure… This is Caitlin and Robyn from my class, guys this is Ellen, my…” he started.

“One of his many  _ friends _ apparently…” she interrupted him, standing stubbornly with her arms folded across her chest.

“Please Ellen, don’t… Can we talk about this later?” Alex pleaded. He knew she was mad, and probably for a reason if he was honest, but couldn’t it wait until they were alone? He really didn’t like fighting in public more than he liked making out in public. 

“Later? When, do you mean? In any one of the one hundred sixty seven hours this week when you don’t have time to see me? Or in the one hour you actually managed to squeeze me into your busy schedule to offer me to come by an have sex?” she snarled, but this only made Alex angry. 

“I think you’re being unfair right now, and I also really don’t think this is the time or place for this conversation if you insist on having it…” he snapped back at her. 

“Oh, you think so? Well, luckily for you I don’t insist… any more than I insist on cashing in on the hour of alone time you actually did offer me. I’m sure you can find something else to do later tonight Alex. Or someone…” she glared at his friends and at him before she turned around and stomped out.

“I’m sorry about that… she’s usually not the jealous type” Alex lied, forcing an embarrassed smile to his lips while he was raking his hand through his hair in frustration. 

“So… your girlfriend?” Caitlin asked, a hint of disappointment in her tone. “You’re not going after her?” she added sounding more hopeful. 

Alex chuckled sarcastically… “Eh, no thanks. I actually enjoy being alive… I’ll talk to her once she’s cooled off…”

“She’s got a bit of temperament, right?“ Robyn smirked.

“Yeah, that’s the understatement of the century…” Alex muttered.

“So, how long have you been seeing her?” Caitlin said, trying to sound indifferent.

“Hm… we’ve been dating, like four months, I guess. But we have known each other longer. So, back to the assignment?” Alex tried to answer the question and change subjects at the same time.

They didn’t discuss Alex’s lovelife more during their session, thankfully. But he did notice that Caitlin seemed a little less enthusiastic than she usually was, so perhaps his hunch had been right. And Ellen was evidently furious. He had texted her like five times that he wanted to talk, but she was just giving him the silent treatment, and he didn’t think he really deserved that. Was it really that bad that he didn’t go around talking to everybody about his relationship status? Why did she have to be so damn jealous? He had taken a shift at the café after his study session was finished, mostly because he needed something to keep his mind off things. He was just finishing clearing off the tables when Viola walked in.  _ Oh, great… _ Alex thought, guessing what was coming.

“Hi Alex! I… you know I don’t want to get mixed up into your stuff, but I think you should talk to Ellen. She’s really miserable…” she said without further ado.

“Straight to the point, as always…” Alex huffed. “And I would if she would let me, but she’s totally ignoring me…” he sighed.

“Yeah, ok… but maybe you should apologize first…?” she suggested.

“What for? For being part of a study group? Or for not wearing a t-shirt that says  _ I have a girlfriend  _ to it? I think she should apologize for being so damn jealous and embarrassing me in front of my friends. And not for the first time…” he scoffed. 

“Look, I know she may seem a bit jealous sometimes… but it is kind of weird that you keep avoiding her at school. Do you know she actually heard those girls talk about you by accident when you stood her up for your lunch date earlier today?” Viola said, and told Alex all about the conversation Ellen had heard.

“Ok, but I still don’t get how that’s my fault? I have to endure guys flirting with her all the time, and I never blamed her for that. Why does she have to become a green eyed monster just because some girl is hitting on me? It isn’t as if I’m interested… I’ve told her like a million times that I love her, why doesn’t she just trust me?” he sighed. 

“I don’t think it’s about trust Alex… but sometimes when you love someone you want to show it to the world… I know you’re not like that, but Ellen is and you’re kind of making it hard for her. And I think it hurts her. Like she doesn’t understand why you won’t let people know you’re dating…”

“Yeah, I don’t get that… Isn’t it enough that we know how we feel? And I’m not keeping it a secret, I’m just a private person with people I don’t know so well. My love life isn’t the first thing I like to discuss…” he insisted. 

“And I understand that. But if someone asks you what you are doing later, it’s not like a huge invasion of privacy if you say you’re meeting your girlfriend. And another thing… you are her first, real boyfriend Alex. She’s been feeling left out since back in high school when everybody else was dating… She always wanted to feel normal and fit in, and now she finally found someone, and he acts like he doesn’t want people to know about her? Can you really blame her for being a bit insecure…? Or sad?” Viola pleaded with him to understand.

“I guess… when you put it like that… But she totally overreacted and practically suggested I should go home and do one of the girls I was helping. I just wanted to be sucked into a black hole and disappear…” Alex muttered. 

“God, you’re more stubborn than Ellen is…” Viola sighed in defeat. 

She managed to get both Ellen and Alex to understand the other a bit better, but they were both still sulking when the group was scheduled to go to the Club. At first, Alex tried to get out of it by saying he had to work, but Viola wouldn’t let him get away that easily. She said he had to at least come by after his shift, or he would be fighting with Ellen forever. So he promised he would. As stubborn as he was, he didn’t like this situation, and he realized they had to talk and make up. After all, this stupid fight wasn’t really worth risking their relationship over… 

*

When Alex showed up the others were already inside and he made his way through the crowd, looking for her. He could see the others by the bar, in an animated discussion with Holly, who seemed really upset, but Ellen wasn’t there. He decided to go look for her first, but felt his heart sink like a cannonball in the ocean when he finally saw her. She was holding hands with some blonde, handsome man in a black suit, who was dragging her out towards the exit. Alex shook his head. This couldn’t be, right? He rushed after them to get a better look, and sure enough, it was Ellen. All dressed up in a tight, black, dress and with high heels. She was looking stunning, naturally. But it didn’t seem like it was Alex she was trying to impress…

“Ellen… what’s going on..? Where are you going?” he shouted after her. At least, he deserved an explanation.

“Oh, Alex… yeah, I’m going to go home with Marcus here… he doesn’t mind showing how much he adores me…” she said, in a cold and distant sort of way, and the blonde guy bent down to kiss her, which she eagerly responded to.

“Ok, I’ve seen enough… If this is some kind of revenge… You’re completely out of line, you know. I’m not going to accept it Ellen. We’re over if you don’t stop this at once…” he hissed, sounding a bit incoherent since his brain wasn’t really following what his mouth was saying. It was too occupied being frustrated, mad, sad and heartbroken. He just couldn’t believe this. 

“Oh, don’t be such a jealous monster… or what were you calling me?” she scorned him, but still sounding more cold than mad. Alex got a funny feeling that something was wrong. Could she have been infected with that red k stuff again? But that wouldn’t make it much better, would it? That only took away inhibitions, which meant she still wanted to do this…

“Goodbye Ellen…” he hissed at her through his gritted teeth and turned around. He had never been so angry in his whole life. He would have left the club at once, if that hadn’t been the direction Ellen was going in. Instead, he made his way towards the bar. He wasn’t much of a drinker normally, but right now, he needed something strong and he seriously considered forcing Viola, who was the only one who had actually turned 21, to buy him a drink. After all, it was her fault he had even agreed to come here, right?

*

“Alex… what’s up with you? Have you seen Ellen?” Cal asked him, sounding a bit worried, as Alex came storming towards them

“Yeah, I’ve seen her alright… she just left with another guy…” he scoffed, still raging mad.

“What the hell?” Viola exclaimed, “Where did they go? Didn’t you stop them?” 

“I don’t know… why should I? She’s free to go off with whomever she wants… and apparently she wanted that guy… can you belive she kissed him right in front of me…? I know she’s your sister Cal, but right now, she can just…”

“Ok, stop it right there Alex…or you’ll say something you’ll regret later.” Viola held up a hand in his face.

Alex was still furious and wanted to give Viola a piece of his mind, but she beat him to it.

“Do you seriously,  _ seriously, _ think Ellen would ever do such a thing? By her own free will? If you don’t trust her more than that, then perhaps you don’t even deserve her…” She yelled at Alex and pushed one threatening finger into his chest…

“I don’t know… No, I wouldn’t have expected that… but she was mad at me for practically nothing, and she has tried to take revenge on me before when she was jealous…” he tried to defend himself. The truth was that he had answered no if anyone had asked him if he could imagine this scenario in his wildest dreams two days ago. But he had seen it with his own two eyes, right?

“If you compare her flashing her cleavage in your webcam, which she feels terrible about by the way, to this, you’re crazy…” Viola scoffed.

“Ok, can we hand out blame later and try to solve this situation…?” Cal interrupted his raging girlfriend. 

“What situation?” Alex scoffed.

“Ok, sit down and let’s go over this. And Holly, perhaps by now you will also agree something weird is going on..?” Viola said. 

“Alright… This is not right. I’m sorry… I… I shouldn’t have thought…” Holly stuttered, and tears started falling down her cheeks. 

“Can someone please fill me in…?” Alex demanded. 

“Ok, Cal, you check for them outside while we go over this again…” Viola said, shooting him a meaning glance, and he nodded and took off. 

Meanwhile, they pieced the story together. Evidently, Leo had been dancing a bit too intimately with some redhead, who seemed to have him under her spell completely, which had led to a huge fight between him and Holly. In the end, Leo left with the woman in question, which had made Holly flip. Ellen had tried to talk some sense into her, saying Leo wouldn’t do such a thing, and went after them. But she never got back again, and the others didn’t know where she went before Alex had come and told them about her leaving with an unknown man as well. 

“No one to be seen outside…” Cal said, panting a bit, as he came back. “Within a miles radius, mind you…” he muttered under his breath to Viola and Alex. 

“So, what the hell is happening?” Alex asked, starting to feel desperate. Not only did he feel bad about evidently being tricked and not trusting Ellen. He was also really worried by now…

“I don’t know…” Viola said, trying hard to think. “But I think it’s safe to assume them disappearing with some strangers is connected… and they were either forced, tricked or somehow mind controlled…” she said.

“Woah, this is starting to sound like some odd conspiracy theory...” Alex said.

“Yeah, but this is Metropolis, after all… we’ve seen weirder, right?” Viola argued. “Could be a meta human, a meteor infected, some drug or extortion? I don’t know…” she sighed in frustration. There were just too many options and nowhere to start looking. 

“Maybe we should go back to the apartment and think… and… and call your parents…?” Viola gave Cal a pointed look and he grimached back at her in an “already did that, duh…” kind of way.

They quickly got their jackets from the wardrobe and made their way back to the apartment. Viola was talking about their options all the way, asking Holly and Alex what the man and woman had looked like, exactly what Ellen and Leo had said, and speculating about different options. Cal was arguing with her over the probability of different scenarios, but Alex noticed that Holly was awfully quiet. Not just frightened, but somehow thoughtful… like if she was considering her options carefully. 

“Ok, so let’s assume they were somehow kidnapped… but why? And how?” Cal asked for the tenth time, not loudly stating the obvious question of how anyone could force Ellen into anything. He thought for a second that this would all have been easier if Holly hadn’t been there and they could have talked openly. But they couldn’t leave her out now. And she might know something. 

“Like I said… it could have happened in a number of ways… And why…? Let’s say it was only Leo they were after? And Ellen got in the way? Money, perhaps?” 

“We need to call his parents… and the police…” Holly finally said in a weak voice, as she plopped down on the couch in the apartment. 

“I don’t think the police will do anything before someone demands ransom… or they have been missing for more than 24 hours… But I did call his parents, they are on their way…” Cal sighed.

“Problem is, we have no idea who might have taken them, where they are or how they did it… All in all, we have exactly nothing to go on…” He hit the coffee table in frustration, but managed to hold back his strength in the last second. 

“Are there no security cameras in the Club?” Alex asked. “I could probably hack into them…”

“None by the dance floor and in the hallway. Only by the bar as far as I could see…” Cal sighed.

“Excuse me, I’ll have to go to the bathroom…” Holly said, with a cracking voice, on the verge of tears.

“Ok, so mom and Chloe are at the Club going through everything, dad is scanning the whole city, and Ollie is out asking around as well… But nothing so far, and no messages from any kidnappers…” Cal quickly informed the others when she went out. 

“Damn, this is my fault… I should have known better… I should have tried to stop them… goddamnit…” Alex swore and also shook the table with his fist in frustration. 

“Don’t blame yourself Alex… I fell for it too, and I wasn’t even fighting with Leo to start with…” Holly said as she came back into the living room. 

“Look… I have to tell you something…“ she added after a while in a shaky voice, looking down onto the floor. “But you have to promise not to freak out…” she said, and raised her head to give each of them a stern look. “Or tell anybody…” 

  
  


Three heads turned curiously in Holly’s direction and waited for her to go on, but at first, she only stood there fidgeting with something in her palm. Holly looked terrified, and she was. She had made a choice to tell the others her secret, but she found it really hard to go through with it. All her life, she had been hiding who she was, out of fear of being judged, used or worse. Now she was going to risk it all to tell the people who she considered her best friends. Not that she was scared of them using her, or exposing her. They were good people after all. But the judging part… what if she would lose them? What if she would lose Leo if he found out? But then again, what if she did nothing and they would all lose Leo because she was a coward? And Ellen… No, she had to do it. 

“What is it Holly? You know you can tell us anything…right?” Viola said after a while, growing a bit impatient. 

“Yeah, it’s just… The thing is that I… I never told anybody this before. But if it can help Leo and Ellen…” she started talking, more to herself than to the others really. 

“ ** _Holly_ ** ” Viola yelled at her and she snapped out of it.

“Ok, here goes… I don’t know who took them or why… but I think I know how. And I might know how to get a clue to where they are…” 

“So? Out with it already…” Alex snapped at her, now beyond frustrated. And not just a little confused. 

“I’m sorry… it’s just… I have to tell you about...things...to make you understand. And I’m afraid you’ll judge me for keeping a kind of big secret about myself from you” she gave them a pleading look.

“Don’t worry Holly, I think I will speak for everyone when I say we’ve probably heard worse…” Cal said, a hint of sarcasm in his voice. 

Holly took a deep breath. “I think it was magic…” she said.

“Magic?” Alex gaped…

“Oh crap… We are defenseless against magic…” Cal sighed.

“Are you telling me magic is real? Like Harry Potter?” Alex looked at his friend incredulously. When Holly had said the word, he had wanted to laugh. But the look on Cal’s face made him change his mind. 

“Yes and no...“ Holly answered, a bit bewildered by their reactions. Cal didn’t seem surprised at all, and Alex at least seemed more confused than condescending. “I mean, yes. Magic is very real. But it’s nothing like in Harry Potter; as much fun as those books are, they’ve got it all pretty much wrong. You want to think more like sixteenth century witchcraft… only, few people can do it. You have to have the gift…” 

“And you do?” Viola guessed.

“Ok, so you promise you won’t tell…?” Holly gave them all a demanding look, and they nodded in understanding.

“Yeah, I’ve got the gift of magic… and I get… visions, sort of. Usually, those with the gift can learn witchcraft and cast spells and stuff. But I never really wanted to learn that. But the thing is that we usually have a natural gift too, and I sometimes get visions. Like, do you remember when you almost got shot by that girl with the weird gun that shot blue lasers Alex? I saw that and I tried to call Ellen like a million times, but evidently she was already on it, and somehow managed to save you. And that’s how I knew Leo was in trouble last Christmas… he… he almost died in the hospital, you know, and I saw it…”

“Oh, this is trippy…” Alex sighed and shook his head. He could deal with the superpowers, but magic? And what were the odds of two people with gifts like these were sitting in the same room without knowing it?

“Please, we can freak out later….” Cal said “The question right now is how does this help Leo and Ellen?”

“Ok, so I think they were cast with some sort of love spell… and now, in retrospect, I should have seen it at once. But I guess my judgement was clouded with anger… When I first went after Leo and the woman, I was confronted by a blond man in a suit who tried to stop me, and I think he was trying to use his powers against me. But I’m more or less immune to magic myself. It’s actually quite common, most of us gifted are… But I didn’t realize what he was doing, I was too occupied being angry with Leo…” Holly looked down and started crying again “I’m so sorry… I really messed up…” she said, blinking away the tears.

“It’s ok Holly… so, do you have a way to find them?” Cal said, trying to stay focused.

“I can try to vibe them and get a vision… if they are really in trouble, I will probably see it. The only problem is that it might be too late by then. It’s the curse of this gift. I see bad things happening, but I usually have no means of stopping them, or getting there on time. That’s why I wanted to become a doctor… I figured, I could sense who’s in danger and why in the hospital, and stop it in time. That way, I can use my powers for good without having to become a full time witch…” Holly sighed.

“Geez, Holly… you have no idea what this means…” Cal almost laughed out loud.

“What?” Holly blinked confused.

“If you can see where they are… I can get you there on time. Only problem is; I’m vulnerable to magic… Any chance you could protect me too?” he said.

“Maybe… But… how?” Holly asked, confused.

“So… I’ll keep your secret if you keep mine…?” Cal gave her a sheepish grin. 

“Oh, I’ll get the whiskey... “ Viola said.

“The whiskey?” Holly asked.

“Yeah, you’ll need something strong… If you thought you have a secret…” she would have laughed out loud if the situation hadn’t been weighed down with their worry.

“Ok Holly. I’m going to tell you my secret, but only on one condition…” Cal started, and when Holly opened her mouth to protest he interrupted her and went on. “...I know you just told me yours, but this isn’t only about me, and I’m not allowed to tell anyone without permission normally. But since you are… who you are… and we need to combine forces to save Leo and Ellen, I think we might call this an emergency. The thing is, that when this is over, you’ll have to make a choice. Either you agree to the terms of keeping this secret, or you’ll get your memory wiped…” he said plainly.

“What, you can do that? You have powers too...?” Holly stared at him with big eyes.

“Yes and no… I can’t wipe your memory, but I have friends who can. And I have other powers actually. Such that might let us save them on time if you have a vision. Like, I can run really, really fast…” he said and raised his eyebrows.

“How fast are we talking here, because we don’t even know if they are even still in Metropolis…” Holly narrowed her eyes. “Like, olympic record fast, or Superman-fast…” 

“Hm, not really Superman-fast… the old man can still outrun me, but I’m getting closer each year…” Cal grinned at her.

“You know Superman?” Holly gasped and Viola and Alex exchanged an amused glance that said  _ Yep, been there…  _ when they saw her confused face.

“Yeah… he’s kind of my dad…” 

“Holy cow…” she said, looking like she was about to faint “I’ll take that… eh, thanks” she interrupted her request when Viola handed her the glass and Holly downed the golden liquid inside. “But… I’ve met your dad… isn’t he a... reporter?” she scratched her head, feeling confused.

“Well, if you ask Ellen, she’d say you haven’t met my dad. You’ve met his day job disguise… and you’ve seen his Superman alter ego, probably. But actually, he’s a different person altogether when he doesn’t have to hide anything.” Cal tried to explain. “But enough of that, we can all mutually freak out later… how do we find them? And if we do, how can you protect me against magic?” 

“Ok, I can try to vibe, or provoke a vision, by focusing on a personal item of theirs… And once we find them, I think I could protect you if you hold onto me… But shouldn’t we call your dad then? Let him go after them...” Holly said.

“Hm, I don’t know… He’s vulnerable to magic too, and if they cast a spell on him, it could be a disaster… trust me, we’ve been there. And if he flashes his cape, they probably will… If I show up, they won’t see me as that much of a threat at first. If I have to expose myself to take them out, we’ll send the Manhunter to wipe them later…” Cal reasoned and looked at the others for support.

“Yeah… makes sense I guess… But please be careful.” Viola said. “And If you can free Leo from the spell, he’s a decent fighter too; if he helps out, maybe you won’t even have to use your powers openly…” she considered.

“Powers….? You have them all…?” Holly said, again looking at Cal in surprise.

“Well, not all of dad’s if that’s what you meant… But I have a few tricks up my sleeve… I’m pretty strong too for instance” he winked at Holly and picked up the couch where the girls sat with one hand.

“Show off… let us down…” Viola giggled

“Ellen… does she have powers too?” Holly suddenly thought about asking.

“Yup, about the same set as I do more or less. I’m a bit better at some stuff, and she at others… but let’s just say that if they’ve got her under some kind of spell, and they use her against us, she could be dangerous…” Cal said.

“You should take my necklace Holly…” Viola said and unclasped it from her neck “If one of them goes bananas, you open this locket and it will protect you…” she said, seeking Cal’s eyes for permission but he just nodded. 

“How…” Holly started, but Cal interrupted. “That’s something we don’t speak of openly... one of the most important things is never to tell anyone about this secret… We’ll decide later what you may be told, but for now, just take the necklace and only open it if it’s necessary.”

*

“Damn, I can’t get anything…” Holly swore when she opened her eyes after concentrating on Leo while holding one of his sweaters. “But the good news is, that means he’s probably not in any immediate danger.” she added.

“What if you try with Ellen? If it was Leo they really wanted, maybe they’ll try to get rid of her…” Alex said, in a worried tone.

“Yeah, only, it’s not all that easy to get rid of Ellen… unless they have… you know what.” Cal said.

“Ok, but if she’s under a spell… maybe magic can hurt her physically too” Alex insisted.

“True… get something of hers for me and I’ll try” Holly said.

Alex went in to her room to get a sweater, but sunk down on her bed for a couple of seconds. Her scent was still lingering in her room, and he couldn’t help thinking about how much he missed her. His stomach twisted with fear and anxiety. What if he would lose her? Even if they got her back safely, what if she didn’t forgive him? He had really acted like an idiot lately, not only by letting her go with that guy. He should have given her more attention and told everyone how much he loved her. Even if he didn’t see the importance, if it was important to her, it should have been so to him as well. He had been so scared of them becoming one of those couples who seemed joined at the hip that he had pushed her away instead. And perhaps his experience with the jealous stalker girlfriend he had in high school had made him unreasonable in demanding freedom.

“Hey, man… are you ok? We will find her…” Cal said, as he came into Ellen’s bedroom and found Alex on her bed.

“Yeah… I’m just scared… what if we don’t? Or what if she won’t forgive me? I really messed up this time…” 

“Don’t worry, we will find her. And if you are just honest about how you feel, I’m sure she will forgive you. Hell, I messed up far worse with Viola, and she forgave me...eventually…” he said, patting Alex on the back. It was probably better not to mention how Viola hadn’t spoken to him for four months… but then again, he hoped Ellen wouldn’t see Alex’s crime as that bad. 

*

“They are at some kind of Circus, it seems… I can see flags, striped tents, a popcorn trolley and several caravans… shit… we have to hurry…” Holly stuttered and froze, still holding Ellen’s sweater.

“Is she ok?” Viola said, alarmed.

“I think so, for now… But we have to hurry” she shot a sideways glance at Alex. She did not want to tell him that she just saw Ellen being raped, unable to protest, but with evident fear in her eyes. That bastard! He was going to play with her before he tried to get rid of her, as it seemed.

Alex flipped his laptop open and started to search. “There’s a travelling circus that arrived two days ago on a field between here and Grandville.” he said and showed the others the location on the screen. 

“Let’s go… Vi and Alex, can one of you try to contact the League with where we went, just in case. And explain about the magic and Holly…?” Cal said and dragged Holly into the elevator. 

As soon as they were outside, Cal took a quick look around before he picked up Holly in his arms, told her to close her eyes if she experienced any motion sickness or vertigo, and sped away. He knew they had to hurry, but he still didn’t want to barge in without checking the place out first, so he put Holly down just outside a tent in the outskirts of the circus. At the first glance, the place seemed completely abandoned. Most of the caravans were dark, and the tents too. Perhaps the circus people had taken a day off? It felt a bit creepy somehow, seeing all the abandoned, colorful tents in the darkness. A vague smell of stable was lingering over the whole area, but at first, they didn’t see any animals. When Cal strained his hearing, he heard the unmistakable sound of grunting and chewing from a large tent across the field. That must be where they kept the animals, not what they were looking for though. Instead, he listened carefully for any evidence of people. At first, he heard nothing, but then he heard two people arguing in hushed voices from one of the tents, and signaled to Holly to be quiet and follow. 

They crept slowly through the damp grass while Cal listened carefully. There seemed to be no immediate danger, luckily. He heard a male and a female voice arguing about what he presumed was Ellen. The woman was evidently angry that her companion had brought her along, they didn’t need her and thus they should have gotten rid of her long ago, she argued. Cal felt his anger stirring when the male voice declared that he deserved some fun since he had been convinced to play along with this little scam, and he evidently considered Ellen to be fun. Cal did not want to think about what the jerk was planning to do with his sister. His knuckles were almost white as he balled his hands into fists. He just wanted to barge in there and kick their asses. But he knew they needed to be careful, they were up against magic, after all. 

At that moment, the door was opened though, and Cal pushed Holly and himself behind a caravan and carefully looked around the corner. The man was coming out, towing Ellen behind him towards a caravan. He had evidently won the argument and was going to have his “fun” with her. This was good, though. Cal thought. It would be easier to take them down if they were separated… He wanted to launch himself right at the creep, but he realized that it was probably smarter to let him get a bit distracted first. He didn’t want Ellen to have go through too many horrors though, so they would have to be quick once they got into the caravan. As soon as the creep closed the door behind Ellen and himself, Cal snuck up to the window and peered inside. This was one of the moments when he wished for x-ray vision, but sadly he didn’t have that. At least not yet… as he peeked through the window, he saw Ellen being pushed down on a bed while the man stared undoing the buttons in his shirt. Ellen had a weird expression on her face. She was smiling, as if she was encouraging him, but in her eyes there was a look of pure terror. 

“It’s not a love spell… he’s using some kind of mind control… As long as you don’t look into his eyes you should be fine…” Holly, who had noticed the same thing, whispered into his ears. Cal nodded in relief and sped around the corner to rip the door open. The creepy man had gotten his shirt off, and Ellen had hoisted her dress up to her hips, probably involuntarily though. He didn’t even have time to turn around and see where the sound was coming from before Cal had knocked him out cold, though, and Ellen flew up out of the bed, having been freed from his control as soon as he was unconscious.

“Cal, thank God…” she sobbed and threw herself into her brother’s arms. “I thought he was going to… He made me…” she stuttered, unable to speak the horror out loud. Cal hushed her and told her all was going to be fine, and held her shaking body in his arms. She quickly snapped out of it though, and gave the creep an extra kick in the groin.

“Here you go, asshole… this is all you are getting from me tonight…” she huffed. “How did you know where to find us?” she realized and turned to Cal.

“Holly… long story… And she kind of knows about us by the way…” he said, but upon the sight of Ellen’s expression, he added “let’s save Leo first, and I’ll tell you all about it.”

“Hi…” Holly stuck her head inside the door and gave Ellen a small smile.

“Oh God Holly. I don’t care how you did it, I’m happier than a priest in a month of Sundays…” she gave Holly a big hug.

“Ok, so how about Leo? Do you know where he is? Is he being mind controlled too?” Cal asked Ellen.

“I don’t know exactly. He seemed to be coming along voluntarily at first, but he doesn’t act at all like himself… That witch had got him tied up to a chair inside, but he just sits there and smiles stupidly. He’s not even trying to free himself…” Ellen explained.

“Hm, that sounds more like she has him enchanted somehow… Perhaps they have different talents - he can force people to do things, and she’s some kind of seductress?” Holly thought. “But you’ll be vulnerable to it as well, Cal… perhaps Ellen too, but it could only be that she just can only do it to men, which would explain why she needed a partner to take care of any females who got in their way.”

“So, the best way may be that Cal stays here and watches over this creep, while I go back into the tent and try to take her out?” Ellen suggested.

“Yeah, perhaps you could trick her and get close? Tell her creepy guy sent you and pretend you are still under his control? Then I can come in and hopefully break her enchantment over Leo…” Holly reasoned, and they all agreed that was a good plan.

Ellen snuck into the tent, while Holly waited right outside the door. She saw Leo at once. He was tied to a chair, but didn’t seem to be in a hurry to leave. Instead, he sat with a stupid grin on his face and watched while the dark haired woman was writing something on a computer. She decided that the best way to deceive her would be to just walk right over there, with as much confidence as she could muster. The room inside the tent was rather large, and cluttered with objects that seemed to belong to a magic show, like wands, hats, velvet drapes, a large box with a sword stuck in the middle, and a coffin decorated with a pattern of moons and stars. 

As soon as Ellen entered the room, the woman froze and stared at her suspiciously. 

“Marcus sent me to warn you… there’s a car coming up…” she said. She didn’t think the woman would buy it, really. All she needed was a couple of seconds of her doubt so she could get there without using her super speed. She didn’t want to expose herself if it wasn’t absolutely necessary. Both since that would require mind wiping afterwards, and since she would risk being used if she would indeed fall under some kind of spell. 

“Look at me..” the woman demanded, and Ellen felt she had no other option than to look at her.

“Liar… how did you break free…?” she hissed, and Ellen charged forwards, thinking she might still have time to take her out, but she stopped short when she felt an excruciating pain searing through her whole body.

“I may not be able to enchant you, but I can make you suffer, you bitch. What did you do to my brother?” the woman shouted at her, her eyes still fixed at Ellen. Ellen tried to muster enough strength for an attack, no longer caring about exposing her powers, but the pain was too much. She felt her body go numb and unwilling to obey her, and her brain had a hard time focusing on anything but the unbearable pain. It was a bit like she would have imagined that it would feel to have all her bones in her body broken at once. Only, she had never imagined such a thing, so the feeling really caught her by surprise. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Holly sneak past them, heading towards Leo, and Ellen realized that the best she could do right now was probably to make sure the woman had her attention fixed on Ellen. Even if it meant having to endure unbearable pain. Their strongest weapon right now was probably the element of surprise, since the evil enchantress didn’t know anyone else but Ellen was around. 

“Wouldn’t you like to know…” Ellen managed to hiss through her gritted teeth, while bending over in pain when the woman somehow managed to increase the intensity of her stare “What… do… you… want...with...us?” Ellen stuttered out, hoping to gain some knowledge and keep her attention. She thought about the mistake all the bad guys always did in the movies - they kept talking for too long giving the hero time to save the day. Hopefully it would work in reality too.

“I don’t want anything with you. If it had been up to me, you would already be dead. I only need the Queen boy. They will pay for him, and they will pay for what they did to my family…”

“What did that family ever do to you?” Ellen managed to grunt out.

“My father worked for Queen industries, and he was accused with embezzling money from the company… wrongfully I might add, since it was my brother who made him do it, and put in prison… Now that our good name has been sullied, we have to work with this travelling circus… But no more, now we will be rich…” she said and chuckled evilly to herself.

“Well, I wouldn’t count on that…” Ellen said, as smugly as she could manage still writhing in pain. But she had seen Holly freeing Leo, both from the ropes and the enchantment as it seemed and he had raised his arm to throw a knife he had found on one of the tables, not wanting to go near the witch again. And Ellen knew it was over; Leo had almost as good an aim as his father. She just hoped he was aiming for a spot that would take her out without killing her, because he was probably quite pissed off. As it turned out, he had managed to keep his head cool, and the woman sunk to the ground, unconscious, but very much alive, after having been hit with the backside of the knife in the back of her head.

“Oh my goodness… I can’t believe you did that… You could have killed her Leo…” she heard Holly gasp. 

“Don’t worry… I know what I’m doing.” he assured her. “I might not have superpowers, but I have a darn good aim…” he said, winking at her. “And thank you, by the way…” he added, pulling her into a firm embrace while Ellen rolled over and lay panting in relief on the ground.

It wasn’t long before the other members of the League showed up to take care of the enchanting siblings. They brought Holly along with Leo to the headquarters, both to protect everyone from their powers, should they wake up, and for the regular procedure everyone had to go through who was going to be let in on any secrets. Ellen had already given her statement and wanted to go home with Cal. Home to Alex… even if she was still mad at him, she really needed him right now.

“Don’t give him too hard of a time Ellen, Cal said as they went up the elevator. He really adores you, you know. And he felt terrible for not trusting you the moment you were gone, but it was too late. I thought he was going to break down completely before we found your location. He was sitting in your room all paralyzed; hugging your pillow, almost in tears. Quite cute, actually…” 

“I believe you…” Ellen smiled a bit “But it really hurts that he would think I’d do such a thing, you know?”

“I know… but think about it - Holly bought it too at first, and she and Leo weren’t even in a fight... I guess it’s a shocking thing to see - it takes a while for your brain to keep up with your emotions, and by the time Alex’s did, you were already gone.”

*

“I’m thinking of taking over the hood…” Leo said, as they all sat down to eat dinner together, the night after. Even Alex had cancelled his game night and joined them in the apartment. He was so happy that Ellen wasn’t only alive, but she had forgiven him as well. Actually, she almost hadn’t scolded him at all. He was still a bit afraid she was only recovering from the shock, and once she had, she would realize her mistake…

“Wow… that’s huge…” Cal said, feeling both a bit impressed and a bit intimidated. Would this mean he had to make a decision too?

“Yeah, I mean… dad keeps saying he’s getting too old for this shit…” Leo grinned “and I think I learned something about myself yesterday. I can keep my head cool and focus even in danger… and it felt good to take those bastards in. Even if I don’t do regular patrols to start with, not before I’m out of college anyway, I will offer my services and pitch in when it’s needed.” 

“And Oliver said they could use me as well...” Holly said, proudly. 

“Yeah, you bet… we would never have found them without you Holly. Not to mention the advantage to having you on the team if we are ever up against magic!” Cal said. 

“I’ve been thinking too...” Ellen said, giving them a secretive smile “I mean, now that Alex has joined with the IT-department and everything… perhaps it’s about time I got a disguise as well. Like Leo said, I probably won’t join full time before I’m out of college, but I can’t resist helping out when possible, and it’s frustrating having to hide my powers all the time.”

Cal nodded and smiled at her. He was proud of his sister, but he still hadn’t made up his mind yet. He hadn’t discussed this with Viola since she came back to him on New Years Eve, and in one way, he assumed it had meant she was ok with it. But he had promised her that they would make that kind of decision together, and he was a bit afraid that she would feel left out if all her friends joined the League. He was just thinking that he would have to have this conversation with her, when she spoke.

“I think you should too Cal… If you want to, I mean. I realized yesterday that I don’t mind being the one standing beside you… And even if I don’t have any powers myself, I’m sure there’s some way I could help you guys. I’m good at solving mysteries, for instance… and finding trouble…” she laughed. 

“This is so awesome… we’ll be like the Next Generation Justice League…” Leo said, and they all raised their glasses to that. 

*

Later that night, as Ellen was snuggled up in Alex’s arms in the blissful state of afterglow, she asked him a question that had been nagging her a bit.

“You are ok with this, right?”

“With what? If you’re referring to what we just did it was more than ok…” he joked, but he wasn’t sure what she was talking about really.

“With me joining the League, I mean… And don’t say you’re not my keeper… even if we don’t have any official commitment to each other, I know I want you to be a part of my future so it’s important to me what you think…”

“Ellen, don’t be silly… I’ve joined myself, right? And even if it doesn’t mean the same as being out there on patrol, I wouldn’t give up that opportunity for the world… I’m proud of you that you want to do it, actually. Not that I doubted it for a second…” he said and kissed her softly on the lips. 

Ellen kissed him back, softly at first, her chest swelling with happiness. Even if Alex was a bit difficult with his fear of commitment and his PDA phobia sometimes, he was really the perfect boyfriend for a girl like her. She remembered back in high school when she thought she would never meet anyone who would be brave enough to share her crazy life and secure enough in himself to go out with a girl with super powers. She deepened the kiss and was just about to crawl on top of him again when he interrupted her with a rather unexpected question.

“Would you want that… I mean, an official commitment?” 

“What do you mean?” she said, almost choking a bit on her own breath.

“Well, I’ve been thinking… I realize I’ve been a bit of a coward… when it comes to telling people about us and showing everyone else how much I love you and all that. And it’s not because I’m insecure about how I feel about you in any way. It’s more of an old hang up… and I was unfair to take it out on you. I really want everyone to know we belong together. If that’s important to you, it’s important to me too…”

“So how do you suggest we do that?” Ellen said, feeling both a bit excited and nervous. He couldn’t be thinking...?

“Well, I can visit your end of campus once a week and make out with you in public for starters… and you can do the same for me. ” he laughed a bit at her expression before he went on.

“I also thought about getting a tattoo that says “I love Ellen” across my arm if that would do it for you…” he smiled mischievously. “And if you want to, we can make it official… I mean, for you to use my name and all that…” he said a bit shyly.

“Alexander Leigh, are you proposing to me?” Ellen sat up and looked at him with her azur blue eyes even bigger than usual. She was feeling the butterflies flapping around in her belly. It was crazy, right? They had only been going out for a bit more than four months… but she had been in love with him for almost a year now, and she knew she wouldn’t ever want anyone else. It only took a millisecond for her to realize she was really hoping that he was proposing. It wasn’t the down-on-one-knee romantic movie style proposal, exactly, but this was Alex. She had actually never expected him to ever do it. When she had joked about them getting married someday, she had imagined her more or less forcing him after dating for ten years… Or because she got pregnant, which would make him reason it was more practical that way. 

“Well, I mean, this would hardly count as a real proposal… I didn’t get a ring or anything… but if you wanted to, I could…” he said, his ears turning a bit pink. “And I don’t think I want to actually get married until I’m out of college… but… I know you’re the one. And we could make it official as soon as you want to...” 

“You’re serious!?”

“I am…”

“You’re insane… but in a good way... I love you… and I don’t care about a real proposal, I want to pick out my own ring you know” she said and crushed her lips to his.

“So what does that mean? Was that a yes…?” he asked, a bit uncertainty, as they broke apart.

“Yes Alex! I will marry you… after college… But we’re getting the damn ring tomorrow!” Ellen smiled at him and fell into his arms again. “Now, I want to make love to my fiancée…” she giggled and kissed him passionately again.

*

“I can’t believe they got engaged!” Cal said, still almost in a state of shock. “They’ve been dating for a like a week…” 

Both Holly and Leo and Ellen and Alex were out on dates and Cal had made dinner for Viola, which they had just finished eating. Now, they sat cuddled up on the couch in the living room, watching a movie and enjoying having the apartment to themselves. Cal had planned to use their freedom to have sex all over the place, as usual, but he had gotten a bit distracted when Ellen had sent a picture of her finger with a sparkling diamond ring on it. It didn’t look like a traditional engagement ring, with a big center stone, but it was stunningly beautiful; an eternity ring in rose gold with round bezel set diamonds all the way around. Much more practical and less likely to get stuck in clothes while fighting, Ellen had declared with a smiley in her accompanying text.

“Yeah, but if they know they want to be together forever…?” Viola interrupted his thoughts, trying not to make it sound as if she was bitter that Cal hadn’t proposed to her yet. Which she wasn’t. Not that much anyway… Ok, so perhaps she was a tiny, tiny bit jealous. It was just so romantic…

“And? I mean, we know that too, right? At least I do…” Cal stared at her incredulously, like if it was the most natural thing in the world.

“Ok, so why haven’t you proposed?” Viola asked with what she hoped was a humorous tone.

“What? Would you have wanted me to…?” He raised his eyebrows in surprise.

“I don’t know… I mean, I didn’t really think about it before. But it is kind of romantic that they want to make it official so soon…” she said, a bit embarrassed to admit it. 

“Viola, every time someone asks me about you I tell them that I’ll marry you someday if you’ll have me…So, in a way, it’s official. But I don’t want to stay engaged for years like that. I’ve always planned to ask as soon as we get out of college and can get a place of our own so we can actually get married. And when I can afford the ring… I found the perfect one, you know.”

“You’ve already planned it?” she raised her eyebrows.

“Of course… As soon as you found out about me and accepted it, I knew. Or, I mean, I’ve known I wanted you forever, since like the first time we kissed, but then I knew it might actually happen.”

“God, Cal, that’s so cute… I will say yes, you know.”

“I sure hope so, it’s going to be a hell of a proposal…” he said and kissed her.

“I love you, you know, future fiancée”

“I love you too. Always have, always will…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, that's it really! There's an epilogue coming up, but this is the last chapter of the actual story.


	28. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I decided to put this in a separate chapter even if it's short, so if you followed the story make sure not to miss the actual last chapter that I posted five seconds ago :)

Sage stepped into the hallway of the pink house feeling really nervous. True, she was still alive, so she couldn’t have messed up too badly. That was always something. She put the legion ring Juno had stolen, and that J’ohn had helped her get back from the Old League in the end, in her pocket and looked around. Everything looked normal. All the pictures were the same on the walls. She exhaled in relief. Time travel was not to be taken lightly, she knew that all too well. One misstep, and you could erase someone's entire existence. And if that was your own, you were officially screwed. And unlike in the old movies where your hands started to fade away or something, you wouldn’t know something was wrong until you returned to your own, correct, time. Or rather, until you didn’t manage to return through the portal in the time-space continuum and was stuck there for all eternity. At least, that’s what they assumed happened. Nobody ever came back to tell the tale… The guardians of the Legion who kept checking all timelines only knew they were lost somehow.

At least, that hadn’t happened to her, so if there was any major screw ups, she always had the chance to go back again. But then, her existence would be at risk once more, so she certainly hoped it wouldn’t have to come to that. She made her homecoming known with a loud “hello” but nobody seemed to be there. Were they all out looking for her? She had no idea how long she had been gone for. She should call someone… but first thing’s first. She went straight into her room and asked her virtual assistant about all her friends and family members, and she almost cried with relief when all seemed perfectly normal. She had done it!

“Sage?” she suddenly heard her father’s voice from the hallway. She had been so concentrated, she hadn’t even heard him come in through the door.

“Hi dad…”

“Oh, thank heavens… where the hell have you been? We have been worried sick!”

“How long was I gone for…?” she asked curiously.

“Nobody has seen you for three days…” he pulled her into his arms. “I’d better call your mother at once, she has the whole League out looking for you. I don’t think she has eaten or slept since you vanished without a trace. But first, I need an explanation or I won’t know what to tell her…”

“Three days, huh? That’s odd... it’s actually much shorter than I was really there…” she contemplated.

“Where!?” he said, impatiently.

“Oh, sorry… Yeah, one of the bitches from that anti-League alliance I tore apart last month got away, apparently. She tried to go back into time to… I don’t know what she tried to accomplish actually, but my guess is she wanted to erase my existence… She went after you, anyway… And I got dragged along when I tried to stop her from stealing the Legion ring…” she explained.

Her father stared at her with a blank expression while the wheels turned in his memory. Then he gasped and took a good, long look at his daughter. Almost like if he saw her for the first time. 

“Oh, my god Sage… I can’t believe it. That mystery girl! It was you! No wonder you had your mother’s eyes…”

** The end **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally done posting this monstrosity! I'm still no master writer by any means, but I do hope I've gotten better since I actually wrote this thing... But it's been interesting going back and reading it. I still kind of like the plot, even if it's a bit slow in the beginning, and I still really love my OCs. The main thing I would have done differently had I written it today is (apart from a bit more varied language hopefully) is probably being more stringent with the POV's. It's a real mess in this fic; in my later ones I've usually chosen one character to be the main story teller, or I have alternated between chapters. I would probably have made it shorter too, now there are some chapters that really feel more like fillers really. Anyway, it was fun writing and I hope somebody enjoyed reading it too!


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